Born Of Darkness
by Aphotica
Summary: After Beast Boy leaves the Titans unexpectedly, it's up to the team to find a replacement. Not long after putting ads in the paper and sorting through recommendations, an unnamed, mysterious figure arrives to take the void left by the former titan. Following him, a dark and ruthless force never before seen by anyone on the planet let alone this dimension...
1. New Arrival

**Author's Note:** About 9 or 10 years ago, FFNet had an author named Obsidian Thirteen. Sometime into the beginning of his hobby, he wrote a Teen Titans fan fiction called Born of Darkness. The first version saw modest success and introduced relatively dark concepts to the fledgling TItans fan fics. Less than a year later, he rewrote it to something a bit longer (around 8,000 - 12,000 words longer). The version was more concrete, less spastic and somewhat more mature. It stayed on FFNet for a few more years, finally being taken down in 2008. That was the last time anyone saw Born Of Darkness.

I worked with Obsidian Thirteen a lot during those times. We would bounce fan fictions off of each other and participate in the communities. As we got older, we grew less fascinated with fan fiction. Between constant reboots of profiles, life circumstances eating our time and the whole thing of growing up, we lost our way. We ventured into original fiction and actually getting published, something we're still working hard on continuing. Last night I asked him if it would be possible to recover some of these old stories and update them; perhaps give them a modern edge. Born of Darkness was the first one I wanted to do. The process would be simple: expand, tighten and add scenes here or there. Rewrite large portions but keep the core elements of the story. He happily blessed the project and handed over the 2005 rewrite to me with a big stamp that said "approved". Now, with a bit of Clive Barker under my belt and this whole self-publishing/traditional publishing thing going on, I'm taking my hand at revising his original masterwork. At the dawn of my mid twenties, I feel it necessary to sort of close the gap - bring things full circle. So I give you the revised and extended, modern version of Obsidian Thirteen's fan fiction. Do note that I haven't altered anything of the plot, rather, just given it more room to breathe and develop some relations, characters and places that weren't touched on much before.

Enjoy.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter I: New Arrival<strong>

_"So impressed with all you do,_  
><em>Tried so hard to be like you,<em>  
><em>Flew too high and burnt the wing,<em>  
><em>Lost my faith in everything,<em>

_Lick around divine deb__ris,  
><em>_Taste the wealth of hate in me,  
><em>_Shedding skin succumb defeat,  
><em>_This machine is obsolete."_

There's a certain whimsy to the fugue. You're either a clever nomad or the dismal result of failure and disorganization. In a world of broken families, saturated poverty and sadistic crime, the average person cannot afford a single miscalculation. The consequences are severe, more dire than death itself. Yet, people move. Men grab their duffel bags of clothes and a wad of money and head to the nearest city promising new jobs and life. Women sneak away in the tendrils of an inky night and arrive at a new bus station, eyes wide and hopes high. It's the start of a new story; the beginning of a new chapter, even in the inherited risk it carries.

Jump City was a place for people like that to runaway and start over in, no matter the cost. Refugees, fugitives, standard class civilians and lords of the underground would arrive with dreams of conquest and ghosts of worry. Sure, it was bigger than most places. There were more jobs and more places to live, more colleges and more facilities. Amenities came with a price, though. Regardless of how well the city was protected, it was always open to new threats. Neolithic devices ran by newborn horrors brought in the womb of the city's dark underworld. Most of them would be fought off, pushed back to their origins or destroyed. But in the grand course of time, all odds and evens being favorable to chance, the possibility exists that something unprecedented could arrive. Something infinite and ancient. It is only then that the integrity, stability and effectiveness of good can be tested again the forces of true evil.

Not the petty stealing or the ephemeral leftovers of a passionate murder. Not the misgivings of a fraud or the fame of a forgery. Not a drug lord serving his customers, not a whore pleasuring the buyers of the streets. This was small time. A true force of evil has no principle. A drug lord keeps his stock in, exchanges his illegal goods and services for capital or currency but an entity of darkness, something not bound by space and time, will not obey its own principles, even if they're sadistic.

With every moment, something beyond good and evil approached.

* * *

><p>It was pitch black out, the only light provided by the man made, sodium infused fixtures illuminating the streets. Underground, in the subways, all that could be heard were the rumbling of the passing trains and crumpled newspapers rolling around on the frigid concrete. Aboard a car in one of the trains, a single figure sat. He was cast in darkness, sitting in the only obscured corner available. The lone man, probably in his late teens or so, was wrapped in an obsidian black trench coat and a haze of shadows. It was all that could be distinguished about him. The train slowly rumbled to a stop, hydraulics squealing with the eerie sound of metal kissing metal. The figure, silent and calculating, gathered up a single backpack with all of his belongings in it and stood. The door slid wide, welcoming to his new home: Jump City. After a few glances and a rolling cloud of steam and smoke gracing the subway station ahead, he paced out into the open.<p>

The train station was a tomb, the only sound was that of light traffic drifting from up above. It came down in thin blankets, wrapping its hopeless melody around the few homeless people and passersby. The figure slowly began to stalk across the open area of the underground station until he reached the stairs, kicking a few empty cups and bits of broken bottle along the way. Again, slow footfalls could be heard as he walked patiently up the stairs. The night air seeped in and mixed with that of the underground aroma of the city's transportation infrastructure. He stood atop the stairwell and surveyed his surroundings. It was a quiet night, save for a few police sirens in the distance and some cars going by. The figure began walking into the city.

* * *

><p>"So, what are we going to do now?" Robin asked, pacing the kitchen.<p>

"Hell if I know." Cyborg yawned and shrugged his shoulders, scratching somewhere on his cybernetic head.

Robin growled in reply, "I put out an ad in the paper, but I seriously doubt anyone around here is up to the job. I question if we are sometimes." he said.

Cyborg didn't respond. It had been three days, a triplet of perplexed hours, since Beast Boy had left the Teen Titans. He had said it was of personal matters and nothing more. Regardless, everyone had been confused but didn't question him. To the best of the group's knowledge, nothing fantastic had happened. Drama was thin if there at all. For a while, they dug; accusing on or the other of instigating it, perhaps a hidden affair or someone with their hands in the cookie jar. Maybe even Beast Boy's. The arguments eventually faded to quiet murmurs.

Now, they were looking for a replacement, someone to fill Beast Boy's shoes. Expectations were low here to begin with. Morale was low and the promise of a new Titan was met with skepticism. Time passed, seconds turned to minutes and night turned to day and whatever the hell happens in between. Robin had been searching ever since he had left and come up with nothing. It was a vacuum of progress at best.

"Come on! There must be something or someone you can think of?" Robin questioned, stopping and placing his hands on the tabletop. Again, Cyborg shrugged, he was getting kind of pissed that Robin kept badgering him but he was too tired to do anything about it. Robin needed someone to talk to so he hadn't let Cyborg go when the girls had gone to bed.

"Mad you're not getting any tonight?"

Cyborg flipped him off.

"Whatever." Robin sensed someone in the room and spun around, Starfire stood in the doorway, looking very tired.

"Could you be kind enough to keep your voice down? Others are trying to sleep, you know." she said, rubbing her bloodshot eyes, clad in panties and a bra. For a moment, her figure and smooth skin distracted him.

"See something you like?" she asked, placing a hand on her hip.

"Uh, sorry. But with Beast Boy gone, we got a serious problem, one we need to talk about right now." Robin insisted.

Star shook her head and left, catching a glimpse of the boys taking their time watching her leave. She dispersed back into the darkness, the sound of a door closing quickly whispering into silence.

Cyborg hunched forward, sighing. "You know, you could probably get laid by both of them if you quit being like this."

"We have responsibility, Cyborg. Serious responsibility here."

Cyborg groaned inwardly; sleep wasn't coming.

* * *

><p>The figure stopped in front of the massive tower set upon the coast of the ocean. The sheer height was enough to make him question a very deep, long-forgotten fear of heights. Tilting his head, he looked up at it, realizing the thing was shaped like a massive T. This was it – the ad in the paper, demonstrated in physical glory as a checkpoint in an arcade game. The figure began slowly walking up to the tower as he had been for the whole way there, every step calculated, collected and aware. Alert. As he approached the main entrance, he depressed a button that would grab the attention of those occupying the tower.<p>

Maybe they'd scurry or feel indifferent. The figure, wrapped in his heavy duster of a trench coat, could only imagine the reactions. Indifference? Excitement? Repulsion? Waves of scenarios ran through his head. Each left an imprint, a sort of reminder like all things had in his life. Purposes were always nerve wracking – even he expected this. Yet anxiety would still attempt to possess him. Every moment was a moment of battle with his inner self and no matter how exhausting, the young man kept his wits sharp with surgical precision.

The figure stood patiently and waited for a reply.

* * *

><p>Robin was in the middle of a sentence when he heard the intercom buzz. His brows perked and a beat in his heart fluttered; maybe, just maybe, salvation had arrived. Cyborg stood, turning with a glare to the comm unit. "Who in the hell is callin' this late?"<p>

"Maybe it's someone about the job." Robin replied.

"Come on, man."

Robin returned the kind gesture of Cyborg's middle finger presented earlier, hurrying to the intercom. No quicker than a blink of an eye, he pressed for a reply. "Yeah?" he asked. There was a moment of silence that was eventually broken by a stoic voice.

"_I'm here about the job."_ Was the only reply.

"No shit!"

"No shit." It added.

"Um, okay... we'll meet you in a minute." Robin said.

Most of them were awake by now. The calamity of a late night call brought mystery and wonder. In their line of work, you had to keep on edge, ready to leap into the canyon of battle at a moment's notice (even if the notice wasn't there at all). Passing through the metal and concrete tinged glow, the woken titans, Cyborg, Robin and Starfire began heading downstairs.

* * *

><p>The lone figure waited outside the massive tower as rain began to fall, pouring over his stone expression. The small droplets of water ran off of his trench coat, tapping on the steel tipped boots he was sporting. As the night saturated the cool air, the lone figure found himself at home, merely waiting to be invited inside. The doors suddenly opened to reveal three people standing inside. He stood, recognizing each face and body from various sources he'd previously encountered ranging from news articles to fan conventions of local crime fighters.<p>

"Won't you come in?" Robin, the leader, asked. The nameless man didn't make a move for several seconds, only staring and studying the few famed individuals to his fore. Finally, after a moment of scrutiny, the figure paced inside with such calm it rivaled the eye of notorious storms. The doors shut firmly, echoing a sort of matrimony of metal closure. The figure, still drenched from a dreary eve's rainfall, found himself in a long corridor with a single door at the end and two sliding doors on the middle, right section of the hallway that was surely an elevator.

Robin spoke first, "You said you were here about the job, right?" he asked as they began walking down the hall. The figure simply nodded as they reached the doorway, even his body language seemingly devoid of emotion. From there they entered a large rec room with a massive TV, video games, a stereo system and a huge, curving couch. Seems like a nice gig, the nameless man thought, still glancing around with silent precision.

"Won't you have a seat?" Starfire asked.

The nameless individual shook his head and went to stand in the center of the room, as if waiting for something. An uneasy silence filled the room, the three titans sitting on the curved couch, eyes fixated on the dark stranger. In the light he could be seen more clearly now, a rough, worn face, a head of closely cropped black hair and icy, focused blue eyes. He removed his backpack, setting it on a table next to him with a precarious grip. His trench coat followed, revealing a figure that possessed seemingly toned attributes. Underneath, he wore a dark black long sleeve shirt, clinging to his core and shoulders, black baggy jeans complete with tears and nicks and steel tipped combat boots made from leather darker than a stained volcano.

"Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? We're not going to just hand out the job." Robin asked finally, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, he will," Cyborg added.

"Shut up, Cyborg." Robin folded his hands together, removing his scowl from the man and machine hybrid. "So? Abilities?"

"Yes," the young man nodded, "I have enhanced physical abilities and believe that I am capable of fulfilling the duties of a titan."

"What's your name?" Starfire asked.

"Seth Obsidian," Seth replied.

Again, an uneasy silence. Was it his last name? It sounded like something pulled from a cartoon or worse, a serial novel. Unbelievable, sure, but the situation was fantastic enough.

"That's an... interesting name. Now, when you say 'enhanced physical abilities', what do you mean?" Robin asked.

"You'll know, in due time." Seth replied in a level, monotonous voice.

"Alright, Seth, you got the job. But for now, let's get some rest. We'll sort the rest out in the morning." Robin said, he got up and headed back out into the hall, towards the elevator, everyone else followed. As they reached the top of the tower where the dorms were located, everyone piled out of the elevator, somewhat avoiding Seth. "Starfire, will you show him to a room?" Robin asked.

"Alright." Starfire replied, as Robin and Cyborg began heading to their rooms, motioning for Seth to follow her. Invitations were bliss in his eyes, though he never expressed this. Regardless, he did so, holding his trench coat and backpack under one arm.

"So are you new in town, Seth?"

Seth shrugged. "I'm new everywhere I go."

She stopped, collapsing her arms. The door, while large, implied a small room hidden within. Perfect, Seth thought.

"Well, here you go." Starfire said.

Seth shouldered his bag, "Seems good enough. Thanks."

Star only nodded, then turned and began heading towards her room, which was down the hall. Seth watched her go, amused at their uncomfortable nature around him. Granted he would likely be uncomfortable if someone showed up at his house, homeless and claiming such wonders and abilities. Schizophrenia comes to mind. That and a bad habit of running through money (hence homelessness). He pressed a button on the wall, the door sliding open with little resistance. A quick probing of the dark adjacent wall revealed a switch which he promptly flipped. A synthetic, titanium white glow basked the room, each corner and nook exposed in the inanimate nude. _Not to__o__ bad,_ he thought. There was a large bed in one corner accompanied by a night stand with a lamp and clock on it and what appeared to be a boom box, the kind you give your brat of a child to blast rebellious music.

In another corner, tucked away in the aftereffects of light scattering on the solid meeting walls, a desk with paper, pens and a comfortable chair. In a third corner was a great looking dresser and a full length mirror, just what Seth needed to examine himself should the time arise. The final corner, a modest one, contained a small closet and a bathroom with a shower stall, toilet, sink, counter and medicine cabinet. Seth Obsidian tossed his things down onto the ground and strode across the room, the door sliding shut behind him. Automatic doors, he grinned beneath his expressionless face, were to be expected. Removing his shirt and pants was easy enough, followed by socks, leaving only the boxer-briefs and a worn, sculpted body. He crawled under the blankets of the bed and immediately fell into a deep sleep, ready to fend off the nightmares his mind would bring.


	2. Titan Tower

**Author's Note:** This chapter features no new scenes but rather extensions of what already was. I feel it had the elements correctly and only need some space to move and evolve. Some dialogue was added and some of Seth's inner thoughts.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter II: Titan Tower<strong>

_"Standing on the edge,  
><em>_Of the underworld,  
><em>_Looking at the abyss,_

_And I'm hoping for some miracle,_  
><em>To break out, to escape from all of this,<em>  
><em>Whispers in the air tell the tales,<em>  
><em>Of a life that's gone,<em>

_Desolation,_  
><em>Devastation,<em>  
><em>What a mess we made,<em>  
><em>When it all went wrong."<em>

Ultraviolet illumination spilled into the room through the overly large windows that Seth had not bothered to cover up the previous night. He could slap himself for forgetting, a deep regret washing over the lethargy that soon followed. Seth had been awake for some time now, giving him ample time to explore his room. For a Titan dorm, it wasn't so bad. That was his assessment last night but with significantly more like a decent amount of sleep compared to the trek there, he felt his understanding of his environment was clearer.

Seth made sure, damn sure, that there were no listening, tracking or spying devices. The world had gone rampant with intrusion though he'd been trained to ward the offenders off. Devices were easily disabled when found or hacked to support his needs. He stretched, clad only his his underwear, glancing around. Yep, a room. Other than the obvious furniture, just a few simple pairs of dark, one size fits all clothing, and office supplies in the desk, Seth didn't see much. He assumed that the recreation room held most of the games and whatnot, though his suspicion was strong that the team had their own playthings. Seth had made good use of the small washer/dryer unit in the closet and now his clothes were mended and clean, especially his trench coat, probably his most important asset.

On a dark, mahogany desk, resided a slew of his possessions. He'd taken upon himself to clear the damn thing off earlier, also part of his training. Organization is tantamount. His eyes followed the display of utilities, starting with the left side. A ten inch, titanium, unbreakable combat knife, sharpened to the point of insanity. Two handguns, cop issue 9mm, modified with a laser scope and a barrel designed for hyper rifling.

Six clips of specialized armor piercing projectiles, the most expensive kind you couldn't get accompanied the pistol. Another pair of the clothes that he wore, sporting relatively good condition. A small journal that he contained everything, every bit of information that was relevant to specific parts to his life that he could think of within finished off the right side of the personal gallery. These were all of his personal belongings. Though modest, they were indispensable.

Seth turned his gaze over at the digital clock on the nightstand, its dull red numbers reading **8:04**. Transfixed on the time, he began to think. The others would surely be getting up soon. He had heard footfalls outside of his room, approaching and then receding, some time ago, around six. Perhaps that had been the other Titan, the other that he had not seen the night before. He hadn't known much about her other than she was a she and probably the most reclusive of the group. He could respect that magnitudes more than other people their age.

She was perhaps the only one worthy of interaction and communication, from what Seth could gather. He suddenly pushed the chair back from the desk and rose to his feet in one lithe movement, starting a path for some food. Seth began walking towards the door and then paused. Trench coat or not trench coat? He decided against it, settling for just his combat knife.

He put it in the sheath and then placed that on a loop in his belt. It had been told to him that he looked intimidating enough without the knife, but he preferred the knife; it had done well for him in times past. With his trusty blade, shiny and sleek, Seth began to head towards the door.

He pressed the activation button and it slid silently open to reveal the corridor beyond, completely devoid of life. "Fantastic," he whispered beneath his breath, slowly moving down towards the elevator. It was only his footfalls now, as lonely as that seemed.

He activated it and then stepped in once the doors slid open, fascinated by the sheer metallic design. Metal tarnished, sure, but a force with such cleaning prowess must have worked its wonders here. There were tales of a janitor, an Italian one, that had adventures beyond reason and sanity. Maybe he had been here or better yet, worked here. On the ride down, Seth pondered what this new life would bring him.

He had managed to wipe out the previous threat in Grant City... well, he hoped he had. The thing from the dark was a difficult foe, probably his greatest and it would only serve as a bad omen for life in general if it remained. As the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened, Seth was drawn out of his pondering. He had arrived at the mess hall, knowing only that by the worn labels above each of the buttons.

After leaving the moving, confined room, Seth strolled down the hall and in through the open doorway that led to the kitchen/dining room, a cafeteria suited for the best of crime fighters. There sat a single figure at the table, wrapped in a dark, purple hooded cloak. Near motionless, Seth realized he was staring at the other Teen Titan. If only he could remember her name. She drank from a mug and had a small plate of eggs and a piece of bacon on it, half eaten. Definitely deep in contemplation or however saturated in thought you could get with a first meal, Seth noted, returning to his comfortable stride.

"Who are you?" the figure asked, looking up from the table. Within the hood, Seth could see a pale face.

"Seth Obsidian." Seth replied, heading over to the kitchen part of the mess hall.

She sipped on her coffee, gently nodding. "Got here late last night?"

He nodded.

"You're quiet."

Seth nodded yet again.

"Well, get something to eat," she lifted her coffee cup in the direction of the refrigerator, tipping him off that yes, he could grab some sort of food from its depths.

He gathered up a few pieces of leftover pizza, cold from the refrigerator, and a mug of steaming hot coffee, then went to sit across the table.

"I know your shapes but not your face or name." Seth sat down, sipping on his coffee.

"Not surprising," she set her cup down, "but it's Raven. Careful with your words, by the way."

Seth's brow raised, the young man stopping in mid drink. "Have I offended you? I've seen you in the media, that's what I meant."

"No. But relax on the knowing people's shapes comments." Raven was good at suggesting things in a non-confrontational way. It seemed very lenient compared to some. "When did you arrive, exactly? I wasn't quite awake; specifics elude me." Raven asked.

"Midnight on the dot." Seth's voice was flat. He went about eating his food and drinking the coffee, their conversation coming to an anti-climatic end. Together, they ate in silence. Sharing solitude was Seth's fancy, so long as it remained true solitude. So far, Raven was reciprocating. Either she was tired or didn't care for him. Her chords had always struck as somewhat antisocial, though Obsidian's had too. They both looked round, voices and footfalls of the others disturbing the peaceful silence that had fallen between them.

Starfire, Robin and Cyborg all entered the mess hall. Cyborg stopped and looked at Seth, then at the pizza, and then back at Seth.

"Hey man, that was mine!" he yelled.

"I'm sorry. I didn't see anything limiting me."

"You can't go around doing that stuff. That was mine. I bought it with money I earned doing repairs for the city's stuff." Cyborg crossed his arms, irate.

"Really, I'm sorry. I can buy you more." Seth was trying to keep a sort of benevolence to him, despite his shadowy appearance.

"Some punk kid comes off the streets and gobbles down my food. You're a real piece of work, man. We have principles around here."

Obsidian became impatient, tired of dealing with Cyborg's inability to accept apology or reimbursement. "Deal with it." Seth replied.

"You can't just go around eating people's food."

"You want to make something of it?" Seth asked, turning to look Cyborg in the eye.

The Titan was about to retort but paused as he saw something in Seth's eye, the look of a dangerous person. "Whatever man. It's cool, just maybe pay for the next pizza."

"Will do." Seth finished the first slice.

Cyborg ended up muttering to himself and going about collecting his own food, in a way secretly grateful the new Titan had forced him to eat something remotely healthy. Yogurt, fruit and oatmeal. He shook his head, finding a spot of his own to sit. The others did the same, getting their breakfast.

"So Seth, you want to tell us a little about yourself?" Starfire asked in a cheery voice.

"I am six foot even, weigh about 175 pounds and am 17 years old. I hail from Grant City, 19 miles northwest of here." Seth replied, downing the rest of his coffee. The Titans found his answers unsettling, well, maybe not the answers themselves, but the way he said them.

"How did you hear about us?" Starfire asked, determined to make the best of a bad situation.

"Channels." Seth replied.

"Of?" Robin asked.

"Propaganda."

"What did you do before you got here?" Starfire now, curious and seemingly infatuated with his history.

"I was used as a one man special assault and investigatory unit." Plain, blunt and simple. Seth had his way with words but most of all, facts.

"Used?" Starfire asked, the others had stopped eating and now were looking at Seth.

It was either out of being perplexed, curiosity or anxiety. "The police force there offered food and water, shelter, clothing, everything essential for survival. In return I was to hunt down various criminals in the city."

"We've never heard of you." Robin wiped away some orange juice from his lips.

"No, you wouldn't have."

"What about your family? What did they have to say about this?" Cyborg leaned forward, fixated on the following answer.

"They had nothing to say because they did not exist." After that, he would reply no further. He simply finished his food, got to his feet and left. The Titans watched him go and after a long moment they finally went about eating their breakfast again.

"Seems like we've got another Raven." Robin finally said.

Unhappy with his remark, Raven gave him a hard look and then departed, leaving the empty coffee cup behind.

"What did I say?" Robin asked.


	3. The City

**Author's Note: **Starting next chapter, I will be implementing a "changelog". Every three chapters, I will go back and adjust things to better suit the overall pace and flow. This will include an editing I may have missed, perhaps some additional dialogue or moment with characters. It will be place in the author's note - I'm adding so that, in case you really, really want to read that once, 500 word chunk I added, you will know where to look. If the changes don't effect how you view the story or are trivial, feel free to ignore them!

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter III: The City<strong>

_"We think we've come so far,_  
><em>On all our lies we depend,<em>  
><em>We face our consequence,<em>  
><em>This is the beginning of the end."<em>

The day slowly drifted on without meaning or purpose leaving the Titans with little to do. Then again, that's how everything seemed to be transpiring as of late. It seemed things had grown quiet and crime was handled by the local police force, the Titans left to their own devices and thoughts (this was spelling existential crisis so far).

Specifically someone like Raven, who simply wanted to uncover whatever truths life had to offer. She wasn't old yet, but the descriptor of teenager was beginning to lose prominence. Years had gone on and now, every one of them was at least seventeen. Perhaps this was an omen, a sign of ghosts echoing away the future. She crossed her legs, sitting on her bed in nothing more than her undergarments.

Morning had come and with it, doldrums of a pristine, preoccupied city. The darkness in her room was saturated with the dreaded boredom as well, perhaps finally used to the overall aura she emitted. Eyes focused on a single solitary spec of dust, she began her breathing routine. In and out, nose then mouth, slow, persistent and collective.

"Friend Raven," Starfire took it upon herself to burst through her door, excited about something and louder than most hells Raven was aware of.

Raven was not amused. "Yes, oh joyous one?"

She was practically bouncing now, "We're going to show Obsidian the city! I do love taking such new people around and I wanted you to join us. Will you?"

"Damn it," Raven unfolded her legs and slouched forward, rubbing just above her eyes.

"Yay!"

* * *

><p>Seth sat in his room, the shades drawn, the overhead lights off. His thoughts were probably somewhere in the same realm: off. Nothing was coming to him other than insipidly clear blanks. Like bullets in a gun fight, they were useless without a hollow-tipped musing attached to the casing. He sighed deeply, shaking his head. "Fantastic," Seth laid back in his bed, crossing his arms behind his head.<p>

Maybe if he thought about the light filtering through the cracks. Another segment of useless time passed and, no, it didn't help. Then he tried flashes and images of violence, bloodshed and horrible things awful enough to be almost beyond imagination. It burnt his mind's eye, the poor fool remember that chaos seemed to be the only thing he could dredge up. Happy, blissful ideas were fruitless (like always).

They were things that he had seen down the years of his short life, things caused by... Him. The being from beyond. A figure composed of complete darkness – total chaos. This was his ultimate nemesis. As the thing's face began to material in his thoughts, the sound of tapping interrupted him. Seth glanced up, following the sounds of light knocks on his door, somewhat perplexed.

"Enter," he obliged, the door sliding open.

The first rays of light that cast over his pupils conjured intense waves of pain, shortly adjusted to mere annoyance a few seconds later.

Starfire stood within the frame, blocking some of the light but not enough to make him happy. She had a hesitant look on her face, little telltale signs of someone once excited scattered throughout, though continuing to stand firm within the open way of the door.

"Can I help you, Starfire?" Seth rubbed his chin then standing from his bed.

She stammered, then began. "We're all heading out into the city for a little bit of relaxation, and were wondering if you wished to join us." Starfire explained.

"What about your duties to crime stopping?" Seth replied, turning to look at her.

"Well..." she trailed off.

Seth shrugged, "Evil has grown soft, right?"

"...Things seemed to have quieted down, sure. And if anything arises we will be able to deal with it whenever it does so. This is the team and I's hope, at least."

Seth nodded. "So what's the point of going in the city again?"

Starfire shrugged, "I suppose to acquaint you with the city, new friend."

"Or have the city acquainted with me?"

Her face went somewhat blank, followed only by a weak nod. "Sure."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Seth smiled, realizing that he needed to study them, learn their strengths and weaknesses, just in case. He had learned to trust no one, barely even trusting his own actions. Finally, he nodded to Starfire and went about collecting his things.

"One moment, Star." Seth pulled on his trench coat and settled the two 9mms into their respective places within, carefully sliding his absurd knife into its custom sheath. Starfire seemed to watch with wide eyes, like a child finding something new in the world. _Clang. _The knife could practically sing when nestled in its home correctly. Complete in his persona, Seth walked out of his room and into the brightly lit corridor.

As Starfire began to walk down the hallway, he followed her in silence. Seth could feel Starfire's tenseness, her nervousness of being in his presence but an odd excitement at the same time. Perhaps a bit of conversation would help.

"So is Cyborg or Robin your boyfriend?" Seth slid a cigarette in between his head and right ear, shaking off the morning lethargy.

She looked back at him, pace slowing, "What makes you think I like boys, Obsidian?"

Seth let the widest grin pierce his face, a small chuckle escaping him, "fair enough."

She giggled lightly, returning to her original pace, "And no, lady Raven and I aren't an item. Far from it, friend."

It was funny, because from what he had come to learn, Starfire was always bright and cheery, and just a little too trusting. A bad thing to have, trust. It could break you, it could betray you, it could kill you. Seth and Starfire stepped into the elevator.

She noted his Marlboro light, seemingly... something. "You smoke?"

"In this day and age," he plucked it from his ear, perching it in his mouth and kissing it with the flame of a silver Zippo, "I always smoke."

"Lucky for you, this tower is equipped with decent air filtration. Isn't that bad for your exercise, Seth?" She asked, depressing the button.

"Breathing city air gives you cancer, love," he puffed again.

The elevator closed in what presented itself as an eternity. After a long, silent moment it finally arrived. The doors slid open to reveal a short corridor which ended in the main entrance. The others had gathered there, waiting. Sunlight poured in through the windows, giving the hallway a comfortable glow of warmth and natural fluorescence. Seth wished he could appreciate such a sight, but such things were lost to him. Instead, he focused on the looks Cyborg, Robin and Raven were giving him over the cigarette.

"Morning," Seth chimed.

He had seen things that were too terrible, too horrible, and it had stained his soul. Starfire moved forward towards the group as Seth lingered back, hearing Robin and Starfire talking softly. It was uncanny how focused the group was on perpetuating drama.

"Why did you even bother with him?" Robin asked in hushed tones.

"Because, he is a new member of the team and we must learn get along." Starfire replied in a voice just as quiet as Robin.

Seth eyed their movements, his glance moving to Raven and Cyborg. They seemed to be indifferent, except for the gaze the other female Titan was plastering over him. She looked away, resuming the sights to be seen ahead. Strange, he thought, I can't think of what kind of look she was giving me. Robin's words pulled Seth away from his quick foray into subdued flirtation.

"Either he learns how to fit in, or I'll personally kick his ass." Robin sounded like a dog, a really angry husky ready to pounce on the slightest scent of fear.

"Please Robin, there is no need for violence among ourselves. There are enough people out there that would gladly, how do you say, 'kick our ass' without us doing it to each other."

"If you want to." Seth said suddenly, Robin and Starfire suddenly turned to look at him. Robin gave Seth a defiant look but faltered for whatever reason.

"Listen Obsidian, just don't give us a hard time. This requires organization and follow my lead. Is that understood?"

Seth nodded, grinning behind a veil of smoke, "Crystal clear."

The look of a man with nothing left to lose, the look of a man who was not afraid to die, gazed back into Robin's good ol' boy loving attitude. He finally shot his head back around and moved out of the nearest door, the others following and Seth doing so with eventual leisure. It slid shut behind him as he came out into the sun. It's glorious, golden rays of perk and aptitude reveal a tall, sterling tower in the shape of the letter 't', nestled along the edge of a blue body of water. The entrance was facing away from the hundred foot drop into the cold ocean, towards the city. Beautiful, Obsidian mused, returning to more prudent activities.

Seth checked his watch realizing it was somewhere around four in the afternoon. Clouds drifted lazily thousands of feet overhead, casting thin shadows over a variety of places. A few remains of newspapers and such traveled along the concrete, light trinket sounds following. Other than the minuscule serving of gray clouds, blue sky stretched endlessly with a big, yellow sun in the center of it all.

The Titans began to walk across the great grass field towards the single paved road that led up the garage, another entrance slapped on the building's right side. Seth wasn't able to help himself; studied them all as he walked behind.

Starfire and Robin were talking about something or other, some meaningless, inane subject that had absolutely no relevance at least in his eyes. He beginning to grow fond of this talk; in a different life, everything was efficient and meaningful. Being alive, existing, meant taking time to do things that held something equatable to nothingness in value. As Cyborg was walking just a little to the left of him, Seth could sense the beginning of depression setting in – a sort of merciless, omnipotent blanket of bleak hopelessness.

Seth sensed real depression, not just this 'I'm sad' crap, but a really deep, down sadness that reached into the pit of one's soul. On the other hand, Raven was the only potential ally among any of them that warranted deeper investigation or, at some point, the sharing of a friendship. She repressed her emotions only because she had too. I've been there, Seth rolled the cigarette in his mouth, finishing it and flicking the thing somewhere in the lush grass.

There had never been a significant other in Seth's life – in reality, there had never been anyone in Seth's life. Anyone who even remotely knew him was scared by his nature to a degree, some in magnitudes varied from others. He'd started becoming tired with the way people perceived. How was he ever able to forge something beyond talk with anyone if his only impression was fear? He knew little about fear himself, love and happiness being a cosmic mystery somewhere in the same ballpark. Seth realized that his thoughts were drifting and silently snapped back to attention, hands shoved into his pockets with a slight hunch complimenting the stature.

They had reached the end of the paved roadway and now were entering the city.

Great skyscrapers dominated Seth's view, reaching up into the heavens, belonging to huge corporations and businesses that seeped into the everyman's wage-labored life. Smaller buildings of various types were in-between the skyscrapers; little things that helped make up the general population of the city, likely stowing away poverty stricken families and low-end college kids on the edge of financial sanity.

Houses, stores, bars, restaurants, places that distracted people from the reality of the situation of the planet, decorated the boardwalk of Jump City. The situation was, if the dark being from Grant City had survived, that every single person on this planet was out of luck. All these scattered homes and schools, bars and libraries and whatever else would be down on their knees, praying to the chaotic lap of the presence from beyond.

Plain and simple.

Seth shoved that thought aside as quickly as he'd retrieved it. He was almost sure that he had destroyed Natas. Almost. Seth looked up as he sensed that the others had stopped, eyes confirming that they had entirely. Since his birth, Seth had been bred for battle. He lived for combat. He trusted his senses more than anything else.

They had all gathered outside of a small pizza shop with a second floor where there were tables and chairs with umbrellas over them set up, overlooking a few sidewalks and roads below. Seth wondered why they were not going in when he realized that someone was approaching the team. He seethed inwardly as he knew who it was. Any schmuck would recognize the Media when presented to them, especially the Titans. Especially Seth Obsidian.

The person did not have a cameraman following them around, but he had a pad of paper and a pencil, ready for an interview with childlike eyes and fervor. "Robin! Robin! A word?" he asked, Robin putting on a big smile, despite the fact that there was no camera.

"Sure.," Robin replied, his voice friendly and welcoming.

The man with the pad nearly jumped at Robin's acceptance, beginning without haste, "Rumor has it that Beast Boy has left the team, is it true?" the reporter asked.

"Yes, it is." Robin replied.

Somewhere, Cyborg was rolling his eyes. Somewhere, Raven was silently groaning. Somewhere, Starfire was biting her lip from the uncomfortable dialogue. It was then that the reporter asked Robin the ultimate question in regards to the interview: "Why?"

"Personal reasons," Robin paused, continuing, "I'm not a liberty to say."

"Oh, and who has replaced him?" the reported may have been getting too exited at this point.

"Seth Obsidian." Robin replied.

In unison, the Titans and the reported turned to gaze at him. Seth shrugged in response, standing a good five feet back from the teammates and media man.

"Do you have anything to say?" the reporter asked, stepping forward toward Seth.

Even as he did so, he faltered, seeing a strange, dangerous thing in Seth's eyes. "Um... okay, I'll get back to you later on that. Uh, thanks for your time everyone, I've got to go now." The reporter turned and retreated with all the dignity that he could.

"You know, you're going to have to learn how to talk to the media, we _are_ rather famous around here." Robin said.

Seth titled his head, "You know, I was going to but he kind of sped off on me." He could kick himself for ever attaching anything psychically to Natas, especially that – the look of evil.

Robin put a finger in his chest, "Shape up, Titan. This is getting out of hand."

Seth flung Robin's arm off, holding back combat rage, "I don't have to do anything if you're going to treat me like that."

"Whatever, we'll deal with this later." Robin turned and stalked into the pizza place, the others following him.

Cyborg stopped, looking back at Seth, then grinned and shook his head. "Rookies," he muttered.


	4. Warehouse Rave

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the late update. Been busy with work and other projects. So, as of this chapter, I'm going to go back and expand earlier chapters, re-edit and revise. I feel there's some stuff that could be added. Also note that in a few chapters, I'm going to switch the rating to "M" (reference to nudity upcoming). Thanks for waiting and I can promise that it won't taking this long again.

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><p><span><strong>Chapter IV: Warehouse Rave<strong>

_"Undo these chains, my friend. I'll show you the rage I've hidden._  
><em>Perish the Sacrament. Swallow, but nothing's forgiven.<em>

_You and I can't decide which of us was taken for granted._  
><em>Make amends… some of us are destined to be outlived."<em>

Night fell like a dark, comforting shade across the city, leaving little dregs of light along the myriad of streetlights throughout. Like the day, it had come slowly and without resistance. Seth could only attribute a calm day to the lack of crime. After their meal at the café, the Titans had wandered around the city for some time, perhaps keeping tabs on anything out of the ordinary. Something told Seth that it was more out of aimlessness – with such a bizarrely low crime rate, there wasn't much to fight or fend off. A life crisis came to mind.

People generally tended to avoid Seth if at all possible; they knew death on two legs when they saw it. He didn't understand why, to be honest. Deep down, dark and stoic as he was, the bastard had a sense of morality. He had feelings, even though restrained. Feelings like friendship and general compassion for fellow man. Even feelings beginning to grow for Raven, the quietest of the group.

Sometimes, the people nearby even crossed streets to avoid him. It didn't do his ego very much good, but it didn't do much harm either.

He had not been here two days and already Seth was instilling fear in those around him. It was a torn thing; love and hate. On one hand, he enjoyed the respect. On the other, he just wanted someone to reach out to him. Desires were a moot thing, though. He had to keep it level, calm. He had to keep up the demeanor, even when Raven would shoot him a glance or two. He wondered if she could sense him gazing over her figure, especially her rear end and face.

Seth Obsidian was very much human and had needs like any other.

After the endless hours of walking around places like the local mall and hanging out at a few other diners and bars, the Titans had eventually returned to the Titan Tower. The uneventful night had inspired a well of self-question for all of them. Star seemed lost in some sort of existential meltdown, Robin had grown an erection for extreme pride, Cyborg oozed of apathy and Raven... well, she kept her emotions hidden particularly well. Like Seth.

But as the twilight came and went and still nothing happened, the Titans had grown restless. Seth had holed up in his room once again, and once again Starfire came for him. He'd begun to suspect maybe she like him to some degree. She was cute, sure. She'd probably be fun in the sack or even provide as a good servant in the lust department, but he wasn't all that into her. Not like that at least. He could only appreciate her body like any other man would.

Time continued on. Seth looked up sharply from his desk as he heard soft knocks on his door.

"Enter." he said in a slightly annoyed voice. He let his red inked pin fall from his hand as the door opened up to once again reveal Starfire. "What is it this time?" Seth asked.

"Um, well, we are heading out again. Do you wish to join us? This time we are going to a place you might find more... acceptable."

"Define acceptable." Seth folded his arms.

Starfire stammered, then attempted to answer. "It's kind of like a Nine Inch Nails music video."

"Go on." Seth replied, his interest piqued.

"There is an abandoned warehouse down near the docks. It's really a good place, really. There is a party going on and we've all decided to go." Starfire explained.

"All of us?"

She nodded.

"Star, I don't know you very well, but you don't seem to be the gothy, haunted warehouse type." Seth pointed out.

She shrugged. "Yes, this is true. I may meet new friends there, Seth Obsidian, so it's enough of a motive for me to attend."

She was like that. It took only a day of being in her presence to deduce Starfire was about as friendly as you could get. He hunched forward, clasping his hands together. Seth considered this whole party thing with laser focus. He'd been working on the map for two solid hours now. He looked back down at it, expressionless. Two hours ago Seth had asked for a detailed map of the city; he decided to be best prepared... just in case. He was studying it and marking good places to hide out and nice little escape routes, things you'd gather from a Die Hard movie (not those awful new ones, the first three only).

"I'll go." Seth said finally. He gathered up his things, stretching.

"Everyone's going to be pleased!" she giggled.

He shrugged. "Tell that to Robin."

She mirrored his shrugging response. "Follow me."

Everyone was gathering around a rather souped up car, probably lost in the sheer magnitude of it all. Cyborg was beaming at it, Robin was practically drooling and well, no one else cared. Starfire seemed to understand that yes, this was a rather enhanced car but beyond that, she didn't seem to pay much attention.

"So, you finally finished it, huh? All perked up and top notch. Real horror-show. " Robin asked, looking the car over with a studious grin.

"Yeah, I did, finally. Took me a while to get the parts just in place like they should be. I don't know man, it was a real son of a bitch to get just right. But I did it, though."

"Looks nice." Seth ran a finger over the hood.

"I just wish BB was here to see it. He would have really loved it. We spent weeks talking about getting this thing perfect." Cyborg replied, a look of sadness falling over his face.

Perhaps that was why he was falling into depression: he missed Beast Boy. It was implied that they were friends, but not best friends. Seth seemed to understand a bit better than the others, though. Brotherhood is hard to come by. Trust is hard to come by. Depression was and is a real asshole. It came to you when you were weakest, most vulnerable. It ranged from sadness and loss of joy to downright apathy and physical pain. Seth looked up at Cyborg, "I think he would have been pleased. You did a good job."

"So do I." said Robin, though he didn't sound like he meant it very much. "Let me drive." he said after a moment of silence.

"I guess so." Cyborg replied. They all piled into the car, Robin in the driver's seat, Cyborg in the passengers seat and the other three in the back.

Raven and Seth sat on either side Starfire, making for a cramped interior. Obsidian on one hand liked this a lot. On the other, it was still a tight fit. He looked over at Raven. She simply stared at him. "Why do you look at me so much?" She asked.

Seth shrugged, "I'd ask you the same."

Raven calmly turned her attention away, returning it to whatever Robin and Cyborg were doing. He opened up the garage door with the push of a button, looking around at the other Titan with some weird grin of smug satisfaction. There was an ego brewing in his coming words which only failed to impress Seth. Rather, he was amused at his palpable attempts to gain control and prove himself.

"Get ready." he said with a grin on his face, then peeled out of the garage.

Starfire gripped a handle on the car's interior side, bracing against Seth and the backseat as buildings, signs, pedestrians and pure concrete passed by in a daze of approaching city light. The door shut behind him as Robin flew down the paved roadway with no observable direction.

He was easily going fifty and gaining speed, plowing down the road he swerved onto the main road into the city.

"Why don't you let up a little?" Cyborg asked.

"You afraid we're gonna crash? No way, we're heroes, that kind of thing happens to other people." Robin replied.

"So says you." Raven muttered.

"I didn't ask the goth chick for an opinion." Robin snapped back, shifting into wide turns and spins that tempted physics with a nice, fatal bloodbath.

The leader didn't mind; Robin continued to plow on, and it was only a God given miracle that they made it down to the docks and the warehouse party without a scratch. He pulled the car to a halt among the dozens of other cars, nestling beside the slew of teenage angst. The dull, rhythmic thudding of music could be heard as much as felt as the Titans got out of Cyborg's shiny new auto. Seth looked round, studying the environment.

He saw dozens of teens heading into the warehouse, some with myriads of piercings and tattoos, others with the dyed hair and glow sticks to light up a city skyline. He watched as a black, hatchback mustang pulled up and as the doors opened. A cloud of thick smoke that came from a drug commonly called weed drifted out of the opening doors, staining the air with a calming though potent smell. Four teens came out; one was skinny with short black hair and a smile so wide it pierced his cheeks. Another had blond hair and blue eyes, skinny as well and possibly more euphoric than the teenager before him. Another wore trench coat much like Seth's, though not as cheerful as the others – there was a definite smirk, just subdued. He had a shaved head and a dark look combined with the joy, a strange combination. The final one also wore a trench coat, hiding most of his features in darkness.

"Ah, man! We chonged it UP!" said the skinny teen with dark hair.

"I don't even... what is on going." The blond one tried to muster.

Raven stood by Seth, simply staring. "What is it that they're doing?" she asked.

Seth felt a small grin manage through his hardened face. "It's been called therapy in some places. Other test subjects referred to it as running through the forest. I call it tending to the herb." Seth shoved his hands into his pockets, standing.

"Pot," Raven stated, one of the teens damn near hacking up a lung. She shook her head gently, "Amateurs." With that, she was gone into the warehouse.

All the others laughed and the quartet began to head into the warehouse. Seth watched them go, barely changing his expression. On some level, he longed to be like them. It'd seemed like a way of being truly free, something Seth could never be. He turned his attention to the warehouse, making his way inside.

What was it to be normal? To have a normal life, to be a normal teenager with friends, not allies. To live life for a purpose different than his. He sighed heavily, passing the interior doors of the warehouse, neon lights and bizarre, exotic colors beaming around the walls and through the collective of teenagers and young adults. Here, there was only life. Life in the sense that you were moving, you were kinetic.

As soon as the Titans entered, everything went to hell in a hurry. Someone yelled 'bust!' and everyone began to snatch and run, grabbing up drugs and beer and other things that were illegal. Seth wondered if any of them thought they could get away reasonably. Instead, he simply stood and watched the pandemonium.

"What this," Cyborg nudged him and for the first time, Obsidian felt a connection or at least a hint of one.

Raven suddenly spread her dark energies after muttering a strange chant and held every single person where they stood, grasping them in some mysterious aura of dimensional power. Robin gave her thanks, applauding her with a wide grin on his face. He bowed for her, then paced to the for of the frozen party-goers. His thanks was more than enough; the bastard had a sense of theatrics after all.

"Thank you, dear Raven," he stopped clapping then began addressing the entire mass of frozen teens, "everyone chill out, we're not here for a bust, we're here to party."

Raven then released everyone and they all paused, looking up at Robin, deer-in-headlights painted over their faces. There seemed to be a tenseness, and then somebody yelled.

"It's all good!"

Everything went back to normal, movement, lust and ecstasy returning to their former glory, if not more energized. The music resumed, people kept on doing what they were doing and the general air calmed down. Cyborg and Starfire disappeared into the crowd, probably hunting down a piece of ass for later in the night. Seth had no idea what Cyborg would be into but Starfire made it very clear she liked Earth women.

"You're not here for a bust, prove it," one of them said, and produced a blunt, "smoke it."

Robin looked down at it, then held out his hand. The teen handed it over, Robin put it up into his mouth, perching the son of a bitch like a madman on the cusp of a tobacco pipe, then took the lighter that the teen extracted from his pocket and lit it up. The glorious, egocentric, cocky leader actually took a deep, formidable drag. A weak chuckle escape Seth as he watched.

Robin held it for a little while, then coughed it out.

"Alright," the teen said reluctantly, "I guess you're good."

He shrugged. "Crime fighters need a break every now and then."

The teen nodded. "Agreed."

He ripped the blunt out of Robin's mouth and then walked off into the crowd, satisfied the local hero had proven himself harmless for the night of fun. Seth simply stood. What the hell was he supposed to do? No one really knew much about him and honestly, he stuck out like a sore thumb in the team. It was then that he noticed Raven still standing by his side, silent. She turned and looked at him, her eyes burning into his. What was this she was doing? Seth simply gazed back for a brief moment before Starfire called her off into the crowd. Raven's mouth twitched in anger and she turned towards the alien girl, displeased.

"Wait." Seth let it escape him.

She looked back for a moment, then returned to Starfire.

He watched her go, finding a intense surge of boredom overcome him. His feet moved forward; he'd go into the crowd and just perhaps get a drink, not that it'd affect him any. No matter what kind of alcohol he drank, no matter what drug he did, it would have no affect on him. That privilege was taken from him at birth by some scientist playing god with test tubes of genetically engineered DNA and biological serum.

But he still liked to do it sometimes, perhaps to show off, perhaps to try and feel alive or even appear somewhat normal. Somewhat human. He spotted Robin, sitting at a makeshift bar with a few others, holding a glass of whiskey in his hand.

He took a sip of it and then looked around at his admirers, clapping as the Teen Titan downed another shot of some sour mash Kentucky brew.

"I hold my alcohol well." he said.

Obsidian found himself cocky and irritated with Robin's attitude. Well, time to put a stop to that. Seth stepped forward and looked the teen who was acting as bartender in the eye, stoic and focused.

"Oh what are you going to do, new fish? Try to out drink The Robin?" Robin jeered, the crowd following his lead.

"Everclear, shot glass." He said in a monotonous voice, sitting over the counter.

All eyes suddenly went to Seth. Everclear. Not beer. Not weak whiskey. Everclear. Almost pure, burning-your-throat-and-soul, pristine alcohol. The 'bartender' stared at Seth for a moment, before finally nodding and getting it out. "You sure man? We're here to have fun, not have the cops sent over for some idiot getting alcohol poisoning." The bartender advised, pouring the drink into the small of the glass.

Seth picked up the shot glass, held it to the light and tipped it in Robin's direction. In one fluid movement, it was downed.

"Another." he said.

The teen refilled the glass then Seth downed it. He repeated this process six times, each with a bigger sense of smugness and triumph. He'd let Robin screw with him sense day one but right now, in the height of his emotions, he wanted to prove himself. More specifically knock Robin down a couple pegs.

Maybe he was trying to impress Raven.

"You the god damned Devil," one of the teens said.

Seth turned to look at him, grinning. "Far from it." he said.

Robin, disheartened and out drank, left the bar, deflated. Seth turned to look out over the raving teens. In the crowd he could see Raven watching Starfire attempt to woo some random earth girl, Cyborg with a woman and... a man at his side, all three dancing and Robin finding comfort in several of the other rave attendants, all female.

Something familiar was playing, a song that he had acquired a taste for sometime back. It was called Alone I Break by a band called Korn. He had grown to love many of their songs, specifically from the Untouchables and Issues albums. Seth finally stood up and moved to a darkened corner of the warehouse to stand alone. He watched, and the party continued on. Somewhere, behind some set of people, through some thick cigarette smoke, on some stool sat Raven, returning the same gaze of interest Seth had expressed for her earlier.

With that, the party continued on.


	5. The Lab

**Author's Note:** Luckily this one was uploaded in a much smaller time frame. Let's see if I can get the following chapters added pretty soon. I'm still working on some additional scenes for the earlier chapters, so those will hopefully be uploaded soon. Remember to check the changelog as it will tell you the prime differences between the original chapter and what I've added. A Search function is included as well. Enjoy.

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><p><span><strong>Chapter V: The Lab<strong>

_"Awoke when the light,_  
><em>Hit me right in the temple,<em>  
><em>Felt something cold,<em>  
><em>Touch my toes as it passed,<em>

_Might not be the face you'd expect,_  
><em>But he's clearly insane,<em>  
><em>Got me pegged in the back.<em>

_Just need a bit of luck, get 'em up,_  
><em>Point the gun at the eyes,<em>  
><em>Or at the knees, had to shoot, had to fight,<em>  
><em>Gonna take out the gunman.<em>

_Bit of luck, get 'em up,_  
><em>Made to run for our lives,<em>  
><em>Take out the knees, had to choose, had to fight,<em>  
><em>Gonna take out the gunman."<em>

Raven sat next to Starfire, who was trying to court some sixteen year old girl into making out with her. Light refracted off various corners and glass nuances in the warehouse, washing the horny titan with neon greens and vibrant reds. Starfire had secretly hoped the liquor and lighting, combined with dark music and weed, would be enough to persuade someone to occupy her bed tonight. As charming as the Titan was, her skills weren't enough to move the teen.

"I'm really not in to girls, but you are cute. Can we just be friends?" the teen asked.

"You don't like me?" Starfire asked.

She shook her head, "Not like that. Maybe we can trade numbers later, but I'd rather just be friends."

Starfire fell to deflation. "Surely. I am deeply regretting my actions. We'll be friends, Maggie."

Maggie, the rave-tinged teen grinned, nodded and left the booth, only Star and Raven remaining. There was a moment of silence, the alien girl trying to hide her bruised ego. She folded her hands together, leaned forward and back, then unfolded them and picked up her nearby shot glass. "Maybe next time," she cheerfully expressed to, well, really no one and then slammed down the whiskey.

"She was so pretty, too," Raven picked up her glass of beer and sipped on it. The half-demon woman knew a good female body when she saw it; wide hips, a tight rear end and inviting cleavage. But she also knew a heterosexual on sight, perhaps a strange facet of her powers. Her father never told her that with great power comes great orientation detection.

"How would you know, Raven? I thought you like the boys from your own dimension." Starfire sat back, arm slung over the booth's upper railing.

Raven shrugged, a good answer evading her. "They can get... intolerable."

"You have eyes for Seth." Starfire giggled, nudging her playfully.

Raven glared at her, then finished her beer. "I'm keeping an eye on him to see what he does, if you're curious."

"Sure thing!" Starfire was looking around again, probably for someone else.

"Really. You know how I feel about that 'love' concept amongst people." Raven gazed into the moving bodies of the night, fighting the truth that maybe she was developing a lustful interesting in the newcomer.

Star chuckled. "Well that's too bad lady Raven. I suppose I can't interest you in me?"

This was not the first time Starfire had propositioned Raven. "We're merely allies. Maybe friends, if you want to put it that way." Several months ago Starfire had crawled into bed with Raven and, well, it solidified her belief that the two would merely remain close friends.

Star sighed, then smirked. "I suppose. Except that one night."

"Hush." Raven stood and dispersed into the warehouse. She knew better than to stick around an intoxicated person with carnal desires; most importantly, she didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, including her own. The idea of doing dirty things, flesh against flesh, was reserved, not particularly for someone else but more so to avoid any dangerous after effects. She could only imagine how it would feel and the things her powers would do to the physical world in that state of mind. Seeing Seth across the way, she did just that: imagined.

* * *

><p>The party pounded on long into the night, switching through different songs and artists. They were mostly by Korn though there were a few exceptions. Slipknot, Nine Inch Nails, Chevelle and even some Aphex Twin would sprinkle themselves throughout in some sort of weird, sonic encapsulation. Half the teens didn't recognize the artists and the portion of the other half seemed indifferent. There were a few, however, who reconciled with shrouded memories of Trent Reznor and Richard D. James. As time passed, the party died down.<p>

Seth found it hard to believe some of the sights presented throughout the weave of the night. Nudity, drugs and blatant vandalism. Violence was slim if there at all, which was something the team had been grateful for, including Obsidian.

Slowly, the teens trickled out of the warehouse in ones and twos. Three in the morning came with deliberate accuracy.

Either too tired, too drunk, too high or too partied out, they stumbled their ways to their cars to probably crash and die or something of a similar nature. Seth and the other Titans eventually made their way back home, the calm of euphoria trailing in their wake. Obsidian drove with cold precision, unaffected by the night's fervor. The zeal of such gatherings, while laden with sex and happiness, held no barring for him right now. His only focus was getting home and thinking about what the hell he'd do next. The taste of the city's heart had made him worried; Natas would surely wipe away any form of good or happiness.

Good was a term that fell somewhere between relativity and subjectivity. Smoking a large portion of marijuana and having lots of sex was fun and, if done correctly, didn't hurt anyone but still fell under 'bad' for most people. This wasn't evil to Seth. Seth had seen evil and fun wasn't that. Evil was chaos and destruction. People gathering around to enjoy each other's company was the opposite of whatever Natas would bring (or take away, rather).

Yet Seth drove. This was only because Robin was passed out in a drunken near-coma, Starfire did not know how, Raven had no wish to and Cyborg had accidentally sent himself into a far deeper depression during a smoking session with several old friends. "It's like everything is pointless," Cyborg covered his face, shaking his head gently.

"If it's pointless, why not give it a point?" Seth asked, turning a corner.

"What do you mean?"

Seth had come to a halt, a collection of the city's stop lights glowing crimson red over the car nose-deep in an intersection, the new ally turning to face Cyborg's welling depression. Seth made sure to focus his gaze so deep into Cyborg's mind, it'd take an apocalyptic situation to distract him. Cyborg went quiet, full attention diverted to Seth. "This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time." Seth plainly stated.

Cyborg raised his brow, "What?"

The lights switched over to green, Seth finishing his slew of advice before beginning to drive again. "It is only after you've lost everything that you are free to do anything," Seth turned another corner, checking his watch, then concluded. "Only after disaster can we be resurrected."

Cyborg sunk silently back into his seat.

With that, Seth Obsidian continued home.

* * *

><p>It was around five in the morning before the Titans finally arrived home. Along the way, orbs of dying sodium incandescences mixed with the group's swimming intoxication and highs, providing an ambient filter for the rest of the night. The car arrived, Seth stepping out of it to assess the observable situation. Robin was dragged, feet first, by Cyborg into the tower and to his bed. The hero had succumb to somewhat too much alcohol. Even though Seth and he had a sort of contest earlier, Obsidian did feel slight remorse. Somewhere deep down, Robin was trying to prove he was a good person, though didn't know how to express it accurately.<p>

"He's out." Cyborg had said.

Raven was the only one to respond. "No one saw that coming."

Robin, fighting for notice but stuck in the undercurrent of an alcoholic tide. In other words, he came off as a first grade jerk.

Raven went to her room almost immediately, only shooting a glance or two at Seth as she left. Starfire was acting calm and strange, probably laughing too much for her own good. This was likely an aftereffect of the party's potent weed and other drugs, though memory served that Star had only drank most of the night.

Cyborg went to his room then promptly fell asleep. Still depressed, but at least reexamining his meaning, Seth thought. Maybe he'd perk up in coming times.

Seth watched them all go and stood outside as if a statue. His frighteningly efficient internal system allowed him to operate with only one hour of sleep a night, so sometimes he chose not to go to sleep at all. The only drawback came in tomes of nightmares and mazes of dark, disturbing dreams. Oh well, he grimaced, lighting a cigarette. Thoughts of Raven nude, undressing, came to his mind. He brushed them off, unwilling to pay attention to his more primitive side at the moment. "Calm yourself," he whispered beneath his breath, taking another deep drag.

He had gone to the top of Titan Tower later, sat on the very edge of the hundred foot drop over the other hundred foot plunge into the ocean and watched the sun rise. Birds and other creatures flew through the glowing clouds, finally spreading so far apart it was impossible to tell what they were. Beams of warm, golden rays enveloped him. It was around eight in the morning when he finally came back down to the mess-hall to get a bit of food, realizing he needed some fuel, particularly protein and caffeine, to carry the day on. The only one awake and coherent, of course, was Raven.

She sat quietly at the kitchen table, nursing a mug of steaming contents.

"Coffee?" Seth asked.

Their eyes met and silence reigned; something crackled on the air, something strange and unfamiliar to both of them.

"Yeah." she responded, drinking.

A small screen mounted on the wall of the mess-hall chimed silently, begging for attention. Raven gave Seth a final look, then lithely rose to her feet and stalked over to the Audio/Video unit. Someone's face appeared on the screen, probably the police forces' contact to the Teen Titans. He appeared displeased and almost frantic. There were strained tones as the man explained a situation to Raven. In the end, she simply nodded, informed him that the Titans would be there quickly and shut down the unit.

She turned back to Seth, who was simply sipping down his coffee and chomping on a chicken breast from a few nights ago. "I need your help." Raven said.

"What?" Seth replied.

She stammered for some reason. "It's important."

Seth nodded. "Okay, what is it?"

"Go and wake Cyborg, inform him that we are needed for a mission." Raven explained.

Seth nodded once, needing no further explanation. They both made their way to the elevator, wanting to speak to each other but failing. The ride up towards the living quarters was silent and before either of them could say anything anyway, the lift arrived with chromium, steel built doors sliding wide open. The two dark beings left each other and strode off down the hallway towards their respective tasks. Seth found Cyborg's room easily enough, and once he did he knocked on it rather loudly.

"What?" finally came the reply.

"We have acquired a mission, be ready quickly." Seth replied, then turned and left.

"Let me tell you just how excited I am..." Cyborg's voice trailed off as Seth walked away.

He headed towards his own room to gather up his things. Now it was time for possibly a little bit of action, time for battle. Seth lived for battle, quite literally. It's how he was bred, designed and engineered. He had been born and raised for war, created for combat; it was his life. He saw things like friendship and comforts and commodities as trivial things (well, he had – his views were changing). There was only battle for him. Seth arrived at his room and entered it, then swiftly went about pooling his stuff together.

He pulled on his trench coat, slid his weapons into their respective places and then headed back out of his room. The pistols were fully loaded with hollow-tip rounds, the casing with a bit of extra powder for more of a "pow". He'd seen the test dummies react to these rounds, even remembering fitting his fist into the holes the powerful ammunition had left. When he arrived at the elevator, he found that Cyborg was already there. He looked rigid and almost stood at attention.

"What happened? You didn't sound thrilled earlier." Seth checked the edge of his knife; sharp as hell and persistent.

"Purge." Cyborg plainly stated.

There were suddenly noise from somewhere in the hallway and the others came down, Robin stumbling down the hallway. He groaned and clutched at his head in the great pain known as a hangover. Seth felt a tiny smirk tease the corner of his mouth.

"Thought you held your alcohol well." Seth said.

"Go to Hell." Robin replied, stumbling to a halt before the lift.

"Been there, done that." Seth replied calmly. They all finally came into the elevator as the doors slid open again.

The place seemed somewhat packed. For the most part, no one said anything. Passing lights in the shaft quickly faded as they approached their destination. Robin finally took note of Cyborg's rigidness and sharpness, curious.

"Why are you so uppity this morning? You had at least as much as I did." he asked.

"I flushed everything from my system using a special drug called Purge. You want some?" Cyborg replied.

"Might as well, we've got a mission coming up." Robin replied, holding out his hand like a child wanting candy. Cyborg handed him a small pill as they stepped out of the elevator.

"I must warn you," Cyborg said as Robin put it into his mouth, "you might want to be near a toilet or sink." That's about when Robin swallowed it.

He suddenly pulled a face and vomited all over the carpet floor, retching up the last few gobs of stomach acid and leftover sour-mash whiskey.

"God damn it!" he yelled in anger, wiping his mouth.

"Tried to warn you." Cyborg replied, grinning in a smug fashion.

Starfire patted him on the back, "It's okay Robin, I did the same thing the first time."

He only glared at her, then stood. "Whatever, let's just get out of here." They all headed towards the exit.

"Question is, how do we get there?" Cyborg asked.

Raven and Starfire looked at each other, one of them saying, "let us worry about that."

As they stepped out into the brilliant sunlight, Starfire picked up Robin via an alien glow, Seth and Cyborg being picked up by Raven's strange, dark energies. With that, the team headed into the city. Battle was coming.

* * *

><p>They found the place that was being broken into easily enough One wall was blown open, smoke rising high and billowing up into the air. The building was a research laboratory, according to Raven. There were a dozen cop cars on the streets and more on the way.<p>

"How many cops do you think they sent?" Robin asked.

Cyborg shrugged. "All of them, I think."

SWAT teams and local law enforcement officers were surrounding the building as to make sure that nobody got out and two helicopter units littered about in the air, keeping an eye on the whole scene from a bird's eye view. It must have been important, Seth thought. Whatever was in there held high value. Considering the city hadn't seen much crime in a while, it may be nerves; Seth wouldn't really know.

As the Titans landed, a police officer approached, gun in hand and sweat over his stricken face. Robin was approached first, the others an afterthought.

"What's going on?" Robin asked.

"From what we can tell, its an army of Slade's robots. They've broken in and we have no idea what they're doing in there." the man replied.

"Slade?" Starfire piped.

"I thought we got rid of him." Cyborg scratched his head.

"Alright, we'll take care of it." Robin turned towards the others, pausing for a moment. Suddenly Seth was off running.

"Get back!" the officer shouted, falling back to his car.

Obsidian was already reaching into his trench coat, extracting the two modified Berettas as he entered through the hole in the wall. Debris and heat trailed passed his face, his nerves burning with pain. No, he thought, pain is an illusion. A few turns and sprints and he was deep inside, ready to blow away whatever stood in his path.

He came into a rather large room that was obviously one of the labs within the building. Tables were overturned, glass was everywhere and the place was just generally a mess. Chemicals, things not really supposed to interact with each other, did so. Rank smells of reaction fumed, singing his nostrils. A trio of robots that all looked exactly the same from which this 'Slade' must have looked like, approached Seth with an almost calm speed. Their red, glowing eyes beckoned for destruction.

He raised one of his pistols and fired off three shots, all of them directly between the androids' eyes. The robots' heads blew apart, shattering in a glorious plume of sparks and metal. They were torn away by the immensely powerful bullets and the three headless bodies fell to the ground, twitching and giving out to the loss of CPU.

"Pathetic," Seth thought as he continued on into the lab.

Hell came in a handcart. The forces were definitely ready for him, strangely enough. That or the whole team. Somewhere in the back, he could hear Robin yelling for him to wait until everyone assembled, but time was short. Too short, Obsidian groaned as he aimed his pistol.

Dozens of robots began to pour in through a few doorways along the back wall, their only motivation to murder. Seth grinned, feeling the adrenaline of combat boiling in his blood. Now this was more like it. He raised his two specialized pistols and opened fire. The twenty one bullets were each heart and head shots, each instant kills. It wouldn't matter anyway; the rounds were so destructive, hitting someone near the head was enough to vaporize a skull.

Once the Berettas were out of ammo, Seth did not feel the need to reload them. Now would be the moments for some hack n' slash, he thought. He simply shoved them back into his pockets and extracted the knife. Time for a little dirty work. The first of the surviving robots came to him, meeting with grim determination and his blade. This is what he was meant for and all he would ever aspire to be, at least in these moments. Ruthless, calculating, methodical and lightning fast.

The first one that came to Seth was cut down in an instant; he brought his combat knife down with savage fury and slammed it into the top of the thing's head, a slew of metal and cybernetic goo spilling onto the floor. It cut through the metal with ease and hit the central computer system that ran the robot, stopping it in an instant. Like a hot knife through butter, Seth smirked, devious and ready for the next one.

Seth yanked the knife out and spun around in a circle, a sort of dark battle dance similar to the highest forms of marital arts. The razor sharp blade sliced off arms and fingers, bits and pieces of the robots in a whirlwind of carnage. One came at him, missing an arm, and he kicked its chest in. _Pop. _While the robot was on the ground Seth brought his foot down with a sort of calm rage, completely smashing it's head. The electrical surge that transpired barely effect him; pain was an illusion, he reminded himself.

He replaced the knife in its sheath, intent on getting his hands dirtier. Seth grabbed two of the robots' heads and banged them together, crushing each of them. A small fireball burnt the inside of his hands, leaving a sore and reddened palm. In the short burst of pain, a hand came at his face, seeking to do him harm, but he merely grabbed it and ripped it out of the socket. _Crunch._

He then began to beat the robot with his own arm until the limb was too smashed to be used anymore. Sweat and blood mixed from his face, dripping on the floor in little, ominous puddles. Once again, Seth grabbed another robots head and ripped it off, then smashed it into another one, this time kneading the remains in his hand for a brief second.

And then, as quickly as that, it was over. He stood in amid a sea of dead robots, detached limbs and severed heads. Ordered chaos; destruction breeds construction, creation, he mused. Broken bodies lay all around him and still he stood untouched. The ultimate fighter, the unstoppable warrior, the psychotic killer.

Seth killed and killed and loved every minute of it. The Titans, unnoticed until now (save for the distant, echoing calls of their team leader), stood well back, in the hole. They had been there the whole time, for fear of getting in Seth's way and being injured.

Silence reigned for a while, until Cyborg came up with something short to say. "Damn."


	6. Walking Home

**Chapter VI: Walking Home**

"_Y__ou lie__,  
>S<em>_ilent__ly__ before me,  
>Your tears,<br>M__ay mean nothing to me,  
>The wind,<br>H__owling at the window,  
>The <em>_l__ove,  
>Y<em>_ou never gave,  
>I give to you..."<em>

Things wound down from there. The Titans searched the rest of the compound, their scrutiny amounting to very little; the robots and Slade's creations had thrown their all at Seth Obsidian. In short, there wasn't anything left. Well, nothing left besides questions. Raven was standing damn near statue-like in the middle of the battle scared room, eyes gazing deep into the puffs of smoke and twisted metal. That meant it was up to Robin, Cyborg and Starfire to discover why the robots were there and what they were after. This again hadn't yielded very much in terms of something useful.

After they had finished searching and securing the area and Seth realized that the fighting was over, he simply left. His direction was almost aimless; "home" was somewhere ahead, if you could call it that. Seth was beginning to think he may be able to down the road (way the hell down the road).

There was no need for him to stick around. At the end of the day, Seth was just there to hit things. Whatever the incident was, it was up to the others to use their logic deduction skills to figure out what went wrong. Seth was more than capable of this, though he chose not to participate. This was ultimately their city, not his. Stepping on toes, regardless of how irritating some of the Titans could be, would prove counterproductive.

As he had gone out of the great tear in the wall, he had not been exactly too surprised when one of the others had come to join him. One by one, they followed, the authorities and city clean-up crew pacing into the hollowed depths of the lab. "Look at them go," Seth lit a cigarette, glancing back momentarily.

"Yeah..." Starfire said quietly, passing him by.

"What?" Seth asked.

She didn't respond but rather kept moving. Whatever, Seth thought, shoving his hands into his trench coat pockets and returning to his trek. Now, he and Raven walked together in silence, down the muddied back roads of the city. Two teens, possibly the two most powerful people in the entire city acting as if pedestrians. They traded a glance here or there, but continued onward. Noise, be it white or black, the coos of pigeons, the sounds of moving cars and crying children, faded into the background to near silence.

From what Seth could see, the city was falling apart. Despite that the police force was working overtime and hiring as many people as possible, things were just not working. The Titans were getting lazy, especially Robin. Seth could sense some obsession with this person called Slade. Obsidian knew better to try to get in the way of a man's goals, though. Whenever Robin mentioned the name there was a certain hate and anger in his voice, something that signified the strange being was important in a dark way.

Tonight, for whatever reason when Seth glanced around, there was something bad happening. In obscured, back alleyways there were drug deals, illegal gambling and the occasional mugging. Loud music was blaring from cars, mostly rap but sometimes rock, as they swerved down the roads at dizzying speeds. Sometimes, policemen were paid to look the other way as criminals and robbers did their dirty deeds. It was then that it occurred to Seth that crime had not dropped to lower rates. The media had been lying; rather, the system had become so corrupt and that the surge of behavior was simply covered up.

"This is a lot worse than the papers had led me to believe," Seth puffed on his cigarette.

Cyborg nodded. "We had suspicion for sometime... but looking at the streets now, I can see that doubts just went out the window."

"I don't get it." Seth shrugged.

Starfire chimed in, "We don't either."

A man with a Colt .45 jabbed the weapon into the chest of another man, demanding something. The perpetrator wore a ski mask and dark clothing, likely studying his crime attire from other criminals. His left hand was held out, palm up, demanding money. The other man looked like he was going for his wallet. It was then that the victim of said crime disposed of a blade hidden in his sleeve, working the sharp edge into the thief's upper chest. His cries nearly echoes, a few gobs of blood spewing from his wailing mouth. The .45 went off next, ramming a hole through the knife wielder's chest.

Obsidian wanted to say something, almost wanted to act as a crime fighter but felt that for some reason, he shouldn't. _So much for a job description, _Seth shook his head.

The two men fell to the street, never rising again. Seth looked over as he heard a rather loud engine approaching, something in need of a dire tune-up. The hatchback, black Mustang slung around the corner, smoke beneath its peeling wheels. Judging by its looks, this was an earlier model – something from the 90's, likely the first half.

It dove down the street at insane speeds, nearly aimless. Three of them, passengers or whatever, leaned out the two front windows with paintball guns, crosshairs aimed at... well, whatever. They tagged people and cars and buildings alike, splattering a pallet of color across the general area of the street. Regardless, the car was still moving. People cursed and yelled in surprise and anger, the four teens in the car only responding with a burst of wild laughter. The one driving was laughing so hard the car almost kissed a nearby hydrant, but he quickly regained control. With that, they turned another corner and hauled away. Seth watched them go with fixed eyes, wistful thoughts of freedom stirring in his mind.

Seth and Raven in their calm, peaceful silence, turned the corner as they reached the end of the street. Slowly but surely they made their way towards Titan Tower, no less than an eighth of a mile away. Seth saw a prostitute being arrested by two cops (or seemingly arrested), a fire truck desperately steering down the street to extinguish something, somewhere. He heard deliberate shouting that grew louder and as they passed a rather large, open alleyway. Seth spotted a large group of men cheering and carrying on, surrounding two other people who were beating the living shit out of the other. The moment seemed like a celebration; this wasn't a normal fight. One of them in the crowd reassuringly shouted, "You are not your job! You are not how much money you have in the bank!"

He couldn't help but let a grin wash over him; such a precise philosophy, he thought. The things you own end up owning you.

On the opposite side, a murder scene. He watched as two medical officers put a chalk outline around one of many bodies from a recent gang war. That was the likely case given the amount of outlines he could count. There was suddenly the sound of squealing tires - rubber burning against black asphalt, a car approaching from up the street. There were strange markings all over it, probably that of a local gang or some mafia. The windows were rolled down with great intent and the barrels of pistols and sub machine guns were stuck out, positioned with yet more intent. People screamed and ran as a rather large barrage of bullets began to pound all over the street, showering holes and debris along the exterior wall of a quaint strip mall.

Someone was bleeding. The car continued to drive by, mowing more people down. She hadn't taken long to respond; Raven chanted, dark energies springing forth from her upraised hands and wrapping around the car. She brought the car upwards about twenty feet into the air, everyone on the road pausing to watch what was going to happen next, even those who had been shot mercilessly, still holding on to some sliver of consciousness. The car came down with savage fury, slamming it into the ground repeatedly until everyone inside had broken just about every bone in their body.

"Damn gangs," Robin groaned, slinging a grenade at the car.

Within seconds, it ignited, vaporizing the vehicle. Shrapnel dispersed into the air, luckily harming no one. Raven's eyes returned to normal, her powers ceasing.

"Call the fire guys?" Cyborg asked.

Robin shook his head, "Nah. Something tells me they'll be on their way soon."

"It'd be a good warning." Raven nodded.

With that finished, Seth and Raven continued on down the road. They progressed through the city, enjoying the "scenery" so to speak. More bad things happened, gang wars continued, but it was nothing entirely life threatening, at least not to Seth and Raven and the others. Eventually, they reached Titan Tower. Eventually, rest would come.


	7. Slade's Death

**Chapter VII: Slade's Death**

_"The fragile cannot endure,_  
><em>The wrecked and the jaded a place so impure,<em>  
><em>The static of this cruel world,<em>  
><em>Cause some birds to fly long before they've seen their day,<em>  
><em>Long before they've seen their day...<em>

_Let the wind carry you home,_  
><em>Blackbird fly away,<em>  
><em>May you never be broken again.<em>

_Beyond the suffering you've known,_  
><em>I hope you find your way,<em>  
><em>May you never be broken again...<em>

_Ascend may you find no resistance,_  
><em>Know that you made such a difference,<em>  
><em>All you leave behind will live to the end,<em>  
><em>The cycle of suffering goes on,<em>  
><em>But memories of you stay strong,<em>  
><em>Someday I too will fly and find you again..."<em>

Some time later, the other three Titans returned home. Seth and Raven had split up and gone to their respective rooms once they had come back, Obsidian assuming the isolation was for the same reasons as his. Solitude brought focus, at least in his experience.

Seth was studying the map of the city again. Much like an obsession, he couldn't put it down. The man was going to great pains to review each and every possible escape route or hiding place that his nemesis could occupy.

He had been forced to hide once before, well actually, dozens of times before. It had all began with the witch hunt that had opened up in Grant City once the cops had actually learned the truth about him. The Titans, on the other hand, were mostly clueless. Time would reveal his nature and something told him that moment was approaching with a quickness.

It had been Seth against the city and damn all consequences, whatever they could have been. He had rather liked that, him against the world with nothing but cold steel, his bare hands and a few other implements of destruction. It may have been part of his design, though this did not interfere with his pleasures.

There were red Xs all over the map, marking specific areas. Puzzle pieces, jigsaw snippets and dots meant to be connected only his mind.

He would have to go about setting up special precautions in those places: food, water, clothing, weapons. Amenities and supplies were important beyond anything else, really.

Seth sat back in his chair, resting, thinking; _Natas, I know you're out there. _It had been at least an hour since the others had gotten home.

Robin had come up to his room almost immediately, and tried to give him some speech about teamwork and how he was a bad impression on Raven. Seth found himself chuckling over the accusation. If anything, she was a bad influence on him. Echoes of lust and other urges had come to him in brief, passing moments.

It had not looked too good, Seth reminisced, when Raven was suddenly there in mid-speech. Coldly, almost dangerously, the part-demoness told Robin that she could make decisions for herself.

Seth had found the whole thing almost comical, when Robin, embarrassed but still attempting to pull his dignity about him, simply retreated down the hall and to the rec room. Raven had probably stood there for a second then wondered off, but Seth wasn't sure; he had work to do.

Nobody else had bothered him since then.

Seth rose lithely to his feet and looked out of his window, the curtains pulled back, sunlight held at bay through the tinted feature that he had very recently put up.

Great towering skyscrapers looked back at him, the daylight glinting off of their metal and glass that made up the buildings. Each one had a personality, Seth thought. Some were tall and modern, reminding him off the civilians that lavished in expensive cars and fine coffee to make an impression on passersby. Others were old, worn and aged with crumbling brick, like people who had seen to much and experienced the same.

Humanity thought itself so powerful, so safe and secure in their technology and weapons, but they were wrong. They were not safe, not secure, for there were forces out there that did not care what kind of weapon you had: it would never stop coming.

Seth had found that out the hard way. Even destroying Natas's body, he felt the presence lurking somewhere... becoming.

Of course, things like Natas usually did not die that easily. Seth stopped that train of thought short. It disturbed him.

He looked round sharply as there was a familiar knock on his door. The frail kind with a sort of second-guessing in each tap of the knuckle.

"Enter." he said in his monotone voice.

The door slid open to, once again, reveal Starfire in all her alien naivety. "Yes?" Seth asked.

"I... I wish to ask you some questions. Not many, just some." she said almost hesitantly.

"Well, get on with it." Seth lit a cigarette, running fingers through dark hair.

"The others wish to know how you are able to do what you do. How are you so quick, so fast? You're not like us."

"I suppose its time for you all to know." Seth said.

"Know what?" Starfire played with her hands, eyes still on Seth Obsidian.

"The truth. I haven't lied to you, well, not very much at least," he pointed to his bed, "sit, Starfire."

She did as asked, calmly sitting on the edge of his bed. "Yes?" she focused on him still.

"I am the end result of genetic engineering." he said calmly.

Starfire stared blankly at him, slowly regaining her composure as if collecting thoughts trying to slip from an already failing grip.

"Engineering?"

Seth nodded, slowly inhaling.

"But... I assumed that that was one of the forbidden practices on your planet. It's illegal – there's news reports about it all the time."

"It is. Very." Seth replied coldly, staring straight at her.

She begin to fidget under his gaze.

"Something wrong?" Seth asked.

She shook her head and finally nodded, promptly leaving. Seth moved forward to close the door since, in her hurry, Starfire had forgotten.

Luck and glory rolled into one, Seth paused right before he managed to do so as the local intercom clicked on. It was Robin who spoke with razor-like precision.

"_Titans, we've got a situation."_ he sounded rather excited for such bluntness. _"They've found Slade and called us. Assemble at the front door. Now."_

The comm system clicked off and soon there was the sound of a door opening. Raven floated, almost drifted, down the hallway, wrapped in her dark energies.

Her hood hid her face in darkness, giving her an eerie look, one that Seth rather liked. He followed her to the elevator, which Starfire was already at and patiently waiting.

Once it came up, the three teens crowded in and began to head down to the ground.

"Ever hear the story about the scorpion and the fox?" Seth asked, adjusting his combat knife and fingerless gloves.

"No." Raven now, seemingly disinterested.

"There was a river," Seth snuffed out his cigarette, putting the butt in his coat pocket, "but the river was too mighty to cross for a scorpion."

"So?" Starfire raised a brow.

"So this fox comes by, ready to cross. For him, it's not hard. See, he can walk right through it, albeit carefully. He notices this poor scorpion on the ground and peers into its eyes, drop dead serious."

"What does the scorpion do?" Starfire asked.

Seth cracked his neck. "The scorpion asks for a lift. The fox is hesitant at first. He asks the scorpion, " But what if you sting me?" and the scorpion assures him he won't. The fox, with his kind, furred intentions, lets the scorpion hop on his back."

"They cross, right?" Raven stared forward, face hidden by her hood.

Seth nodded. "As they're crossing in mid river, the scorpion drives its stinger into the fox's neck. The fox, betrayed, cries out, "How could you do that? Now we'll both die!" and the scorpion says, "I'm sorry, it's only in my nature. If it could have gone a different way, I would have done it that way," and the fox passes out from the poison, drowning before the venom has a chance to kill him."

Starfire's voice sounded hurt. "What happened to the scorpion?"

"It drowned," the elevator doors slid open, Seth pacing out, "floated by and down the river and drowned."

* * *

><p>A bit later, the five teens emerged where Slade had been reported. It was an abandoned warehouse on the far side of town, at the docks and from the looks of it, not cared for very well. It was a place where no one went anymore, not even thugs or bums or those who were looking for a place to lay low for a while.<p>

Sometimes, Slade would move to a different area for a new base of operations; this was only on occasion and if only to keep Robin guessing. It was a mind game Seth had likened to chess. He couldn't exactly look down on the little cat and mouse the two played with each other, given he could have been in the same spot.

The place was completely out of character for what a typical day would have been like. Instead of the cold, quiet, calm usual setting where the only things that moved were things set off by the wind, there were police cars, SWAT trucks, helicopters, fire trucks, ambulances and more. They swarmed around the warehouse, guns pointed at every possible exit.

Maybe they'd get him this time, some of the officers chanted, or maybe he's planning an attack, another fireman grimaced. More men and women in blue suits were exploring the area, sharing ideas of what could have been occurring. Nothing was left unchecked; all of the catwalks and small rooms and other places where somebody could be stowing themselves were examined.

Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven and Seth all entered in a great hole in the wall on the front side of the warehouse. It was not similar to the one at the research labs; this one looked like it was torn open through brute force rather than a bomb or explosive. No burns marks just simple destruction. Seth had a bad feeling about this. It churned in the pit of his genetically engineered stomach; there was something familiar about the whole thing.

Bodies littered themselves everywhere, mutilated and torn. There were hundreds of them. Robotic versions of Slade lay broken and shattered all around, plaguing the floor. There was damage visible on just about every wall and ceiling tile, great dents or cracks in the solid concrete, crates and boxes toppled over, unused supplies split out of them. Abandoned machinery and equipment that had been left to rust and collect dust was now knocked over or in pieces, some smoldering or recently extinguished. Doors were ripped open or sometimes completely missing.

Wherever you looked, there were dead robots. This was absolutely nothing in comparison with the amount of robots that had been at the research labs. Other officers moved about the great rooms, pistols and flashlights pointed in all different directions in search of the person or thing that had done this. _Weapons down, Seth thought; your pistol isn't enough for this thing._

As the Titans made their way deeper into the warehouse, silence reigned. The eerie, unsettling calm followed them through the darkness. Finally, it was broken by Robin.

"Hey! This place has security cameras!" he said eagerly, gesturing at a camera in the upper right hand corner of the room.

"No shit." Seth looked up to where he had indicated and sure enough there was a top of the line security camera, swerving slowly back and forth, a red light unblinking on it.

"I say we go and find the main security center." Cyborg said unnecessarily.

"It may give us an idea," Starfire crouched over a pool of blood, "this is bad, Robin. This is particularly bad."

Robin nodded, "Well Slade isn't getting away again this time."

"Slade's probably dead." Raven echoed.

"What makes you think that?" Robin paced forward, "What makes you think someone took out Slade? That could be someone else's blood. We don't know."

Raven's eyes landed on Seth. Robin took no time in pointing his finger at Obsidian. "You little sack, you had something to do with this. Just stay out of my way."

Seth shrugged. "Suit yourself."

The Titans continued forward, following the path of destruction until they came to a single doorway that had been ripped off of its hinges and thrown aside. Broken lights flickered inside, showering down tiny sparks made useless by their malfunctioning electronics.

"My god..." Cyborg covered his mouth.

And there, inside of a small room crammed with computers and monitors and screens and other equipment, was Slade. Or rather, what was left of Slade. He had been decapitated and skinned alive. His head wasn't anywhere to be found, nor did anyone want to find it. There was blood splattered everywhere, the thick crimson fluid coating the place in relatively dried pools. Pieces of intestines hung from the equipment along the walls.

Starfire leaned over to puke and Cyborg looked like he might join her. Raven shooked her head every so softly, Robin finally exploding in anger.

"No! Why!? I wanted to kill this bastard!" he shrieked.

"Well he's dead now." Cyborg's hands were on his knees, the poor bastard trying his best to avoid heaving up his lunch.

"What could have done this?" Starfire wiped her mouth.

Robin kicked Slade's lifeless body, punching a few equalizers and other various security equipment before stalking off in a fit of anger. Cyborg and Starfire had followed him, leaving Raven and Seth alone in the crime scene.

"I must say I find this rather disturbing." Raven said in a quiet voice. "I mean, we've been trying to nail Slade from the beginning and now this..." Raven turned around, contemplating.

Seth stalked forward into the room. "Now someone else has gone and done it for you," he wiped his finger along the blood, "gone and disembodied him and paint the room like a canvas."

More and more this was looking all too familiar. He needed confirmation and fast.

Seth begin to work the controls. He simply ignored the blood as he labored to bring up a sufficient amount of data on the subject of what the Hell had happened here. Numbers, letters, code and cryptic data passed through the screens above. Raven seem unphased by the teen working through the gore.

"What are you looking for?" she asked.

"My scorpion." Seth said plainly.

He finally accessed the program of the security systems, sitting uninterrupted on the hard disk. Seth didn't waste a moment; he downloaded all of the day's events from all the cameras onto a disc that he had found in the security center, collecting the information in seconds. It popped from the disc tray, Seth extracting it.

"Maybe your scorpion is on that disk." Raven added as Seth held it up to the light.

Obsidian nodded. With that, he left the security room. The two left, making their way to the massive hole in the wall. There, the others waited.

An officer approached Seth. "What happened?"

Raven spoke for him. "We're going to analyze the data we have. If we've got a lead, we'll let you know."

_You are my favorite, Raven. _Obsidian motioned, agreeing with the dark, attractive demoness. He looked at the others, beginning to leave. The disc in his hand refracted a few rays of sunlight, shards of morning luminescence breaking over his face. Hell was coming – he could feel it. Even worse, if that was who he thought it was, the bastard was reaching out to him. Playing him like a game.

"Pathetic." he said, then stalked off.


	8. Thou Shalt Not Fall

**Chapter VIII: Thou Shalt Not Fall**

"You give me the reason, you give me control ...  
>I gave you my purity, my purity you stole .<br>Did you think I wouldn't recognize this compromise?  
>Am I just too stupid to realize?<br>Stale incense, old sweat ,  
>And lies, lies, lies ...<br>It comes down to this ;  
>Your kiss, your fist ,<br>And your strain, it gets under my skin ,  
>Within... take in ,<br>The extent of my sin."

Lonely and dark the Titan Tower stood, a thunder roaring above as a storm came in over the ocean. It was raining again, beats of thunder and spears of lighting stabbing down with constant frequency from the sky. Oddly enough, the sounds of these claps and howls were muted somewhat, left to background drones and sometimes less. Cyborg hadn't noticed it very much, nor had Seth or the others. If anything, it acted as a sort of background noise to the world around them.

What had remained of the night fell prey to the winds of lust, arrogance and obsession. They intertwined here and there, sometimes between different members of the team and other facets. Boredom, as it were, held a certain whimsy among other festivities. Some chose to dream, like Cyborg. He'd had enough of how the day had gone and would rather just be done with it. No longer did he want to think of Robin complaining or trying to assert his dominance; he was simply done with that. Instead, he found his favorite magazines, read and then fell asleep. Video games and tinkering were not even in the cards for him. The only thing, he could think of, was some damned sleep.

He did manage to think, briefly, of what Robin had been doing before he fell into the clutches of a waning sleep. The arrogant leader had gone to play a game. Doom 4, if he had remembered correctly. Normally, Beast Boy and Cyborg would be joining him. That meant Raven and Starfire would be doing whatever it is they do on nights like these. Cyborg had, at least for a while, suspected they were doing feminine things, stuff that he and the boys couldn't relate to. He had begun to suspect otherwise, but that was for a different night. Now was simply for sleep.

* * *

><p>She lay still as Starfire's soft, alien fingertips caressed her exposed lower back. Raven's gray, pale skin held certain undertones of a violet ghosts and white whispers, though it'd take a closer look to notice it. Star had noticed this, probably more than any guy who ever touched her. So these nights, they decided, would be for exploring each other's bodies and what it was to be a woman. They were cuddling right now, laying on Starfire's bed and keeping their mostly nude bodies pressed together. Raven had her bosom against Star's, trying to trap the heat and muted thuds of their hearts in a cradle of feminine flesh.<p>

Raven called it Dual Heart Meditation. It could work for any gender, though together they had been exploring what it offered in the realms of the famed female-on-female. "Seth's onto something, I think."

Raven nodded, snuggling a bit more, "When did I come to this again, Starfire?"

"You were really drunk one night. Really drunk. And you cried. Stuff was blowing up around your room and I you didn't want the boys to see you this way, well, anyone. So I came in and did what I did ever so best: annoy you."

"And this constitutes me being in your arms, almost complete butt-naked?"

Starfire shrugged, "Just two friends cuddling."

Raven's hand ran down the cleavage of Starfire, gently caressing the lace material of her bra. "Never thought of you as a Victoria's Secret kind of woman."

"Never thought you'd follow through with this oh-so-wonderful Dual Heat Meditation, Raven. I thought I turned you off, as you say it."

"Eh. Emotions aside, it's nice. Maybe more someday."

Starfire blushed gently and nodded, "That sounds fantastic Lady Raven."

"You are right, though."

Starfire perked up, "Right? About what?"

"Seth is onto something."

* * *

><p>Robin had come to terms with it: Seth was beginning to take the role as the alpha male or "cool one". The rest of the team were beginning to look up to him. Robin had considered, briefly, beginning to smoke as a way to increase his popularity among the team and, in turn, boost morale. He sat by himself in front of the coffee table, rolling a cigarette back and forth across its mahogany surface, waiting for the moment to light the cancer stick up. The moment didn't come. Instead, he simply sat and stared at it. Robin had never been a fan of smoking and wondered why people wasted their time, money and health on it.<p>

Then again, Seth may be immune the effects of the 4,000 known chemicals in a cigarette. Robin wasn't immune and, for all intents and purposes, this made him inferior. If anything, he wanted to regain that position he once held as the popular role model. Perhaps, as time had gone on, this faded into something less... something worthless. It didn't matter. The thoughts of these things were infuriating him and he finally wanted to know, deep down, why Seth was the way he was. He was going to march in there, gaze stern and focused, and demand answers.

* * *

><p>Seth sat in the central computer room, a vast array of semi-futuristic technology and equipment at his disposal. Whether or not he'd utilize any of it was open to debate, but he did focus on a few tools in front of him. He had opened the curtains at the front of the room, watching as darkness and rain fell. Eight came and with it, falling sheets of water droplets and an angry storm cloud, expressing its distaste in claps of thunder. An hour had passed, meaning the angry sky had been doing its proverbial "thing" for a while.<p>

Seth could have opened some windows, but this would spell disaster for the equipment. He didn't particularly care of the devices, but he needed them, especially being this close to proving whether or not… he was after him. Regardless of the quaking tensions that were building, Obsidian reminded himself of the joys of a good rain storm. He turned back to the monitors of the workstations, analyzing the readouts pouring over the screens in front of him. He'd annexed the computer room from anyone upon the moment they arrived home, isolating himself in the currents of undulating binary.

Starfire had immediately gone to her room, likely for a shower. The naked alien would likely take her time and in turn, buy Seth a few moments. Cyborg had gone to do whatever Cyborg does and Raven had, much like Starfire, retreated for a shower. It was odd, Seth noted, that they decided to do this at exactly the same time. Robin on the other hand had simply left himself in the recreation room to ruminate over the day, which Obsidian decided not to let concern him.

Seth paused a moment, listening to some of his 'work music', as he liked to call it. Without it, he'd probably lose his mind (thought that may have already happened). He had appropriated the disc from Raven, seeing that she also had a taste for good music. Oddly enough, he assumed her leisure activities were devoid of music and its notions, saved explicitly for prose and horror films. Regardless, it was something that Seth found rather interesting – all the more she seemed more and more like him.

The album, issued on compact disc, was called Take A Look In the Mirror by the artist Korn, "Everything I've Known" was currently playing in the background, adding to the dark ambiance of the room. With that going, Seth looked over the computers and monitors, their foray of flashing buttons, then went to work. Maybe this would give him a hand up over Natas, though he wasn't sure of that. He was sure, though, that the bastard was there, out somewhere in the cold night and plotting the pieces of some infernal chess game.

He opened up the file that contained the videos from the warehouse security cameras, eyes focused on the images displaying before him. Camera One was selected first, Seth furling his brow as he studied the view that it gave. Not much happened, save for some plumes of smoke and the din of thermal scuffle in the background.

Time for the second camera, he thought. Once again, Slade's robots shooting at some hidden assailant, expressing what he thought was fear or as close as autonomous systems could get to the dreaded emotion.

There were more moments passing by, each coupled with another skillful selection of CCTC footage. Seth cycled through the cameras until he finally came to the one that showed the room where there was a gaping hole in the wall, complimented by smoke and singed flesh.

He started at ten o'clock and watched from there, fast forwarding. He watched as Slade's robots did the work that was assigned to them, lifting crates and working machinery and preparing the place for whatever it was Slade had had in mind for the warehouse. The footage had likely been swapped around, due to mislabeling or damage in the conflict. No matter; soon, Obsidian would find the remnants of the footage he needed.

His thoughts wondered, visual thoughts conjuring his mind. Specifically, they were related to Raven and for the first time, Seth felt lust. He thought of her nude, her curvy and Gothic rear end. Obsidian sighed, shaking the thoughts off. Lust – wonderful, but distracting, he thought. He moved onto something that would be less distracting. Seth grinned as he watched, thinking of Robin's anger earlier on in the day (and probably his whole life).

He had been pursuing Slade doggedly for months now, possibly longer. Robin was obsessed with the mysterious being and now that he was dead, Seth felt a sort of grim satisfaction. On one hand, the little bird should have been grateful that Slade, his arch-nemesis was gone, but on the other, angry that someone else had done the job. Wiped out in a single instant, probably by a single blow, and all of his mysteries and motives and answers now lied with him: in the ground. Slade was dead, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

Seth returned his attention back to the matter at hand, that being what the Hell had happened to Slade's hideout in the moments leading up to his demise. Obsidian really hoped that this was some strange criminal in the Titan's city and not his counterpart on the spectrum. Natas was probably the only single person who he feared on some level, if only because he could not kill Natas, no matter how hard he tried. The bastard was immune to weapons, attacks on anything else Seth had at his arsenal. There was an endless debate raging in his mind as to whether he had killed Natas or not, during the confrontation those many days ago.

Seth continued to watch the screen until noon rolled around.

That was when it had happened: the anomaly that Slade had never planned for, something he did not, could not, know about. There was an earth shattering explosion and the far wall was suddenly torn away. Dozens of robots came running from all sides, none of them holding weapons, all relying on their bare strength to do battle with this... thing that had come to them.

Seth watched as a dark figure came into the room through the hole. It was colored in shades of blackness and impossible shadows, except for two burning, glowing crimson eyes. Whenever sunlight hit it, the light seemed to be deflected or absorbed as if the sheer presence of this thing disturbed it… or made it flee. Reality seemed to shift around it, losing its coherence.

The figure from beyond threw itself into combat without hesitation and maimed without slowing down at all. Hundreds of robots came to meet it, but despite their best efforts and probably increasingly worried orders from Slade, they could not stand against the might of the shadow creature. Where it raised its arm, robots were sent flying, some decapitated by their own mass and volume.

Wherever it looked, they burst into flame. Wherever it whispered, they fell into shards. It was madness, insanity, and yet there it was as real as Seth's desire for a naked Raven. The battle continued on, out of view and range of the camera. He paused the camera's feed and looked up at the time counter, revealing that only one minute had passed. He switched over to the next camera in line and then moved up to that exact time where the last one had left off.

Then he continued to watch the battle, the dark figure floating forward into the room as if mist on a placid, moonless lake. It continued to kill off every single guard that Slade sent after it and no matter how many came, they were all slaughtered horribly. Soon Slade ran out of defenders, their broken bodies laying scattered all around the floor, littering it with their bits and pieces, some large, some small and others indiscernible in their geometry. The figure from the shadows finally came to the security door. It had been of thick metal, locked tightly and impossible to move if the one inside did not want it to be. More or less, this was Slade's panic room. Seth shook his head.

The figure gestured with one of its hands and the door was ripped off of the hinges and thrown back, tossed aside like the city's garbage. Slade cowered inside, clumsily holding a pistol in which he fired off every single round that was in the clip, foolishly hoping to defend himself. The bullets did no damage, not while the thing was in this form. The figure then slowly crept into the room, its eyes glowing hotter by the minute, thick, crimson suns furious with heat.

Slade's screams echoed across the warehouse and then were ended as the dark figure ripped his head off with a single, lithe movement. Blood splattered across the small security room, painting the walls in sloppy waves. The dark figure turned and left the warehouse, vanishing like fog in a breeze through the opening. Seth paused for a long time, just staring blankly at the screen.

He was back... Natas was back. The implications of that were terrible.

"Can't stay dead," Seth sat back, "but then again, neither can I."

Seth finally got his wits back and called the others up to the security room, trying to figure some sort of defense plan.

"This better be good," Robin scoffed, "because I have words for you."

Cyborg rubbed his brow, "Robin, stop. This could be important."

"No, I'm in charge here-"

"Robin, shut your mouth. I don't have time for this right now, so close your lips and look at what I tell you to look at," Seth barked, the room quiet, "understood, Titan?"

Robin stood, his jaw agape.

"Good. Now that we're on the same page..." Seth didn't hesitate: he played the footage.

There was dead silence once the scene faded from the screen. "My… god," Starfire backed against the wall, faint and tired.

Raven stood, studious at the footage before her. She was probably worried, though Seth couldn't know for sure.

"The hell?" Cyborg shouted, horrified.

"What, exactly, was that?" Robin asked, calm yet quaking with fear.

But Seth would not reply; he simply got up and left the computer center. He pondered the implications of his actions previous to his arrival at the Titan Tower. What had he done? And behind him, Robin was fuming, staring at Seth's unresponsive back.

"Answer me you asshole!"


	9. The Lost Boys I

**Author's Note:** Due to a change in the tone and graphic nature of the story, I have shifted the rating over to an M. Nudity, sex, drugs and violence are going to be prevelant from this moment forth, so keep that in mind. This chapter contains a mild sex scene and some nudity. _  
><em>

* * *

><p><em>"The last fire will rise<em>  
><em>Behind those eyes<em>  
><em>Black house will rock<em>  
><em>Blind boys don't lie<em>

_Immortal fear_  
><em>That voice so clear<em>  
><em>Through broken walls<em>  
><em>That scream I hear..."<em>

**Chapter IX: The Lost Boys I**

Night fell quickly upon the city, almost as if the light was afraid. Soon, only man made illumination fixtures lit the streets and buildings. Perhaps it was natural, then, that the sheets of blackness above enveloped what little could be seen, hand in hand with an unseen presence. The Titan Tower stood on the approach of the city, lights of a certain brightness spilling from the many windows and casting an eerie glow on the surrounding area. Seth stood at his windows, the curtains pulled back, his hands clasped behind his back. A storm was passing through, gathering strength above. Soon, its rain fell.

He was thinking, brooding. The thoughts came to him with relentless worry and anxiety. All the clues were pointing to the fact that Natas was alive. But… how was this possible? Seth had dispatched of the abomination's maleficent life. He supposed that he should have know that even something like a power plant going critical and detonating would not kill such a horrid thing, even though the nearby animals and buildings were left to little more than ash. All those lives wasted… Obsidian at the helm. Seth was suddenly yanked from his pondering, an all too familiar knock on his door. It had to be Starfire. The perky female had been making more visits as of late, though he couldn't put his finger on why, exactly. "Enter." he spoke.

The door slid open, of course to reveal Starfire. "What is it this time?" Seth asked, folding his arms.

"We are going out to eat dinner tomorrow in an attempt to calm down. Would you wish to join us?" Starfire asked, seemingly blushing.

Seth considered the matter, wondering what good he could extract from it. He could take this time to study the city and its layout, perhaps plotting a solution to the problem known as Natas. To survive, one must learn one's environment and surroundings. He should have known himself first and foremost, but even that was beginning to slip.

"I will go." Seth finally replied.

"Okay, tomorrow, yes." Starfire smiled brightly, nodding to him and then leaving.

She retreated down the hallway to the elevator, giggly and… Starfire. Seth turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Tomorrow," Seth lit a cigarette, eying the blanket of smoke drifting from the red hot cherry, "just wish there was more time."

Seth turned back to the windows, gazing out into the openness of the city.

* * *

><p>Raven lay on her bed, clad in but her bra and panties. She glared at the ceiling, her fingertips grazing the contours and flesh of her midriff, wondering exactly what was going through her mind. It wasn't romance, no. This was something far more carnal, something he had been keeping to herself the past several days: lust. Pure, unadulterated lust for all things sensual and all things flesh. Skin against skin, men inside women- she stopped herself, sitting up. The black essence of her magic licked the bed, leaving soft patches of cold in their wake.<p>

Lust was a dangerous thing to her, especially her. Partaking in fornication, no matter how many participants, meant risking her powers going awry and causing serious damage. There was also the chance she could become addicted to it, little more than a sex demon with nothing but primal urges of being a receptacle. She sighed, a knock at her door. With the way the night had been going, she suspected it to be Starfire. So lost in her thoughts of love making that Raven hadn't notice the creak of her door sliding open.

"Lady Raven," Starfire stepped in, quivering a bit, "I'm still worried about what we saw earlier."

"You seemed more than merry just a few moments ago," Raven added, leaning back into her bed.

Starfire nodded, "Once I got on the elevator after talking to Titan Seth, I became… fearful? Is that the word, Raven?"

Raven nodded, adjusting her bra.

"I am trying to ignore these emotions," Starfire approached her, sitting at the foot of Raven's bed, crossing her arms.

Starfire stopped, her gaze fixated on Raven, "And other emotions, Lady Raven. You know how I like women of Earth, yes?"

Raven nodded yet again, folding her hands behind her head and gazing into the shadow-ridden texture of the ceiling. "Quite."

"I am having… difficulty… controlling them." Starfire was visibly holding her hand, as if restraining it.

It was then that Raven felt her lust begin to spiral into some sort of heated pit, beckoning her to act on it. "Perhaps it's something going around," she sighed, "influence of whatever dispatched Slade, I presume."

Starfire looked over at her longingly, "Can I ask something of you Lady Raven? I think it will help, very much."

"Sure Star, what is it?"

Starfire looked away, quaking now as if embarrassed, "A..."

Ms. Roth raised her brow, confused, "A what?"

"K…."

Raven shifted herself closely to Starfire, nudging against her, "Tell me, Starfire."

"...Kiss..." it was nearly indistinguishable from the background noise of the air conditioning, though definitely there. Had Raven heard her correctly? A kiss? Sure, they had cuddled as of recent, but nothing more than that. Now, since the arrival of Seth Obsidian and the force from beyond, Starfire had been different… on the edge of her bed at the very moment, begging for a shy kiss. What kind of kiss? A peck, as it were? Or perhaps something more sensual, something of a more wet nature?

"Did you say a kiss?" Raven couldn't believe she was saying it out loud, feeling the temperature in her lower stomach begin to rise and wake from its forced slumber.

Starfire nodded, "I'm so sorry… I just thought… maybe getting it out," Starfire tried to hold back tears, ashamed of the nymphomaniac she was becoming, "friends don't kiss friends, Lady Raven. I am so sorry..." tears came, running down her soft face.

Raven wasn't sure what to do. First, the desires for Seth and now, Starfire wanting the taste of Raven's lips and tongue. Her wisdom said to ignore the feelings and see Starfire on her way out of the room, but the heat of her instinct was too great; Raven opened her mouth before she could even formulate logical thoughts.

"You can kiss me, Starfire." Raven wanted to smack herself, unable to purge the thoughts of Starfire's tongue probing her mouth and the taste of their spittle mixing.

Starfire blushed hotly, smiling, "R… Really?"

_No, fight it, Roth. _"Actually-"

Their lips met with such attraction that Raven hadn't felt Starfire's hands groping her chest. Starfire's lips were soft, luscious and sweet like the beauty she naturally held. Within moments, a warm tongue was sliding into Raven's mouth, teasing the tip of her own. Saliva exchanged, both of their bodies rushing with lust as their kiss deepened with furious passion. The skin of Raven's cleavage met with Starfire's, pushing their blossoms together firmly, breasts against breasts. More heat transferred between them, their feminine scent as if perfume to each others sticky kiss. _Stop this… _Raven tried warning herself, using her might to break free of the sensual grasp. Kissing a girl, a woman for that matter, was no different than a man, from what she was learning here in this sexual moment. No matter how the demoness tried to push away her desires and instincts, she could not; in response, her black flames began to permeate through the room, casting a shadow-tinged glow over their curvy, womanly figures. They pressed together closer, removing the space between them, Starfire's hand moving toward the clasp of Raven's bra. _Imagine how she tastes, _Raven heard the thought echo in her mind.

Starfire was near the point of removing Raven's bar, ready to suckle and lick her exposed nipples. "Raven… I want this so bad..."

She had to get her senses back… had to fight… "ENOUGH!" Raven shoved Starfire away, shaking.

Starfire had a look of pain on her face, not unlike rejection. "Lady Raven..."

"It's not you Star," she was panting, trying to catch her breath and wash away the taste of Starfire's spit out of her mouth, "I'm not like this… something has gotten into us… leave, before I make it worse."

Raven was now the one powerless against her reproductive organs, dreaming of nothing more than the two of them naked together in the bed, exploring each other's crevices. "But Raven, I-"

"You wanted what? What, Starfire?" Raven hissed, trying to contain her emotion.

Starfire was on the edge of sobbing, tears welling up in her eyes, "...I want to touch you… you never let anyone touch you… except me… I want to know what you feel like…"

She couldn't hold back the endless desire anymore; the image of Starfire's fingertips firmly dug into her rear, groping and squeezing every inch of the soft flesh of her ass. "No it's… you can touch me… just… Starfire, keep it to my tits and ass, alright? I can't… too risky..."

Starfire nodded, "You like your butt being played with?"

"Star ...Promise me."

Starfire returned to her, crawling slowly over the bed and close to Raven's lips, "I've wanted this for a long time..."

"Me too," Raven felt herself fuming with sexual energy, dredged from the deepest regions of her senses and organs, "...me too."

Starfire let a finger trace the luscious skin of Raven's bottom lip, "Lady Raven… can this stay between us?" Star asked, licking the demoness's neck.

"Of course, Starfire," Raven couldn't help but look at Starfire's ass, high in the air, begging to be excavated and probed.

_God, her spit smells wonderful… organic, bodily and so sweet… _Raven moaned beneath her breath, ready to nibble and kiss the alien's pink nipples, rolling them between her tongue and gently between the teeth. How would they taste? What would their texture be like, their conformity beneath the weight of Raven's demoness teeth? How much could she make the alien blush? How hot would her flesh become to the touch? Raven felt her area grow with more lustful heat and, without hesitating another moment, dove into Starfire's breath and spittle, lost in her touch. Outside, the night continued forward, ever watching and all seeing of the city's activities. While no man, woman or creature saw the two explore, taste and grope each other, the night surely had.

* * *

><p>Seth found himself sitting outside of the tower, brooding in slow waves of… whatever. Time had seemed to slow to some degree, though he felt some beckoning not unlike that of an impending doom. Natas Black was out there, somewhere, plotting his next move. Murdering a high profile villain like Slade required some form of tact, though the video feed suggested it was simply swatting an annoying insect away. No, Natas was doing something, something involving taking over whatever he could. Why else annihilate the biggest villains of Jump City? What other point could possibly exist.<p>

Seth puffed on his cigarette, stopping for a moment to look at it. As of late, they were beginning to taste like dry ass. "Fuck," he flicked it into the Tower's lawn, watching the cherry die a gradual death, eventually fading into nothingness.

At that moment, for reasons unknown to him, the urges came back: Raven. She must have looked so grand and gorgeous naked. With her Gothic nature and taste of the dark, Obsidian assumed she must have been unparalleled in bed and the following sexual natures. He wasn't sure which part she'd favor: her voluptuous rear and cheeks, her endowed breasts (Seth assumed a mid-range C up or something similar) or the wet channel forged between her thighs. He paused for a moment, realizing how ridiculous his thoughts were. Through all the pain and struggle, as much as Seth was learning that he did desire affection and sex, he was also learning that the world didn't partake of his kind. That being said, Raven wouldn't so much as dare draw his member into her throat or insides.

Let alone kiss him.

Seth rubbed his temples. Was he losing his engineered edge? What was happening? "I need a walk," he murmured to himself, glancing around. Ahead, the city sat, reserved and timid beneath a lazy night sky. The storm had died and moved along, revealing a sheet of speckled black with dots of diamond stars. With the soil and earth still damp, Seth traversed; the city called. It wasn't long before he was a few blocks in, simply gazing around the streets. What caught him off guard, however, was how did this particular block was, as if removed off life. Beneath him, the asphalt scuffed, little pebbles forgotten and discarded by masonry left to the mercy of pedestrians.

Seth scratched his head, wandering forward more. Another hour passed, according to his watch. How far had he been at this point? Several miles, maybe more, from the Titan Tower? Seth arrived at a small, derelict suburb somewhere off the outskirts of Jump City. He almost mistook it as a sort of testing ground, it even deader than the city block he was only recently passing through. His watch ticked another minute forward, signifying… something.

He felt something well up in the pit of his stomach, lava searing through his veins and a pounding headache exploding in ripples through his skull. "Damn it!" Seth fell, grasping his head and hacking up some bile before, finally, it all stopped.

The pain, anyway. Sound, such as crickets and their nightly doings, had completely ceased, fallen noiseless and silent. "Hello?" Seth Obsidian called out, realizing the all too familiar feeling: someone else was here.

Maybe not in the flesh, but their presence was unmistakable: Natas Black.

"Can you hear me, Seth?" his voice was like a hammer slamming down on Seth's third eye, the engineered young adult falling to the ground.

"Damn you!" Seth growled, trying to regain himself.

There was a sort of laugh, "You can see my handiwork, can you not? I drew you out… to see. Oh Seth," the ground pulse like veins, "look at how gorgeous it is. How… mathematic."

"Natas, show yourself!" Seth stood, drawing his combat knife.

"In time," Natas was manifesting from the fog that enveloped ahead, poitning a finger at him, "sweet dreams, Obsidian."

Lightning jolted through his brain and, as darkly fantastic as it had been, Seth woke up in some alley. "The hell?" Seth stood, rubbing his head: a nightmare.

"You okay?" a man in tattered remains of a jacked, smudged in city filth, slugged down a bottle of Vodka and stared at him.

"Yeah," Seth said, standing and staring at the homeless man, "I'm good."

The homeless man laughed, "Say… you're that new Titan!"

"Oh god," Seth tried pacing away, "no, maybe."

The homeless man wrapped his gloved hands around Seth's arm, "Maybe you can help, maybe! Why you were just walking and you took a nap, I saw!"

"Get off me," Seth tried to push the drunkard away, but it was no good – something told him to listen and carefully.

"The block's dead, can't you see?" The man guzzled more Vodka.

"What's your name?" Seth sighed.

The man laughed wildly, "Well it's Rick!"

"Rick, did you consider that maybe this is a place that's just too expensive or shitty to live?" Seth really wanted to leave at this point.

The man stared, "No, no sir. No, see there were people here, lots of them, just yesterday! But someone came and took them all away!"

Seth froze in spot, "What?"

"A man, I think! Why aren't you and them Titans on this? I'm one of the few left – you got to help me. If he finds me, he's going to rip me apart!" the man fell backwards, downing more of his alcoholic drink.

"What man?" Seth hunched down over the drunkard.

The hobo shrugged, "Shadow man..." then promptly passed out.

Seth stared for a moment, then returned his gaze to the street. A few empty plastic bags rolled with the wind, racing each other in generous curves and leaps before vanishing into the horizon. The block was dead. Had it been the work of Natas? Had he already started working his way into the civilian droves and decimating the living? Where was everyone? Obsidian considered that perhaps he'd slipped, hit his head and lost his mind and that this was yet another nightmare of figment of his imagination… but nothing pulsed here. No, nothing called out to him in the fog – this was real, unfortunately. He needed to return to base, return to his comfortable bed and think things over. Evidence suggested Natas was much further ahead than Seth could have ever imagine and, with that, Seth needed his own Vodka. He began pacing back toward the Titan Tower, thoughts akin to a slurry of rapid water, restless and muddled.


	10. The Lost Boys II

**Chapter X: The Lost Boys II**

"_Long afloat on shipless oceans,  
><em>_I did all my best to smile,  
><em>_Til your singing eyes and fingers,  
><em>_Drew me loving to your isle…  
><em>_Did I dream,  
><em>_You dreamed about me?  
><em>_Were you here,  
><em>_When I was full sail?  
><em>_Now my foolish boat leaning,  
><em>_Broken lovelorn on your rocks..."_

Robin had been sitting in the recreation room, doing absolutely nothing when she had come to him: a half naked Starfire, panting with layers of glistening sweat. At first, he felt like scolding her but, instead, he simply gazed at her curves, the soft, tan flesh of her midriff catching his eye and the delicious cleavage of her breasts catching shadows from the lights above. For whatever reason, he'd lit up the cigarette earlier, staring at the wall blankly, until now. God, she was hot, Robin though… if only he could touch her silky flesh.

"Any reason you're wandering around in your underwear, Titan?" Robin took a puff.

Starfire didn't respond right away, but took her time, "I… wanted to try something. What are you doing out here, Robin?"

"What's it look like?" Robin scoffed, rolling his head until his neck cracked audibly.

Starfire grinned, "Nothing."

"Yep. Nothing."

"I am not doing anything either," Starfire began approaching him, finding a spot on the couch nearby, "nothing."

Robin suddenly felt himself grow flustered, blood welling up in his member, "Star, I don't know if you gave this much thought, but it may not be appropriate to… sit next to other members of the team in your underwear."

"I know that it is not appropriate," she smiled, "but I want to tonight anyway."

"What's gotten into you?" Robin leaned forward, putting out his cigarette, only then noticing her hand rubbing his shoulders.

"Robin, we have known each other some time, yes?" Starfire purred, her nipples growing firm beneath the bra.

Robin was holding back his tremors, more excited by the prospect of her touch, "Uh, yeah Star, we have..."

"Shouldn't we express then what we are feeling?"

Robin bit his lip, "Express? How?"

"Nudity and touching, yes?"Starfire tugged, with her free hand, at the strap of her bra, beginning to slide it down.

"Star..." Robin sighed – any moment now and she'd be topless.

"Oh Robin," her voice became mischievous, "I know you want to touch me… touch them. Haven't you ever wondered what I feel like beneath your fingertips, Robin?"

"Starfire, if you keep that up, you're not going to be wearing much on your chest. You're about to expose yourself." Robin plainly stated, fighting his erection.

She grinned wide, "I do know this."

Perhaps what happened next took some stress away, the "edge" as it were, from Robin's life. In the following moments, he'd taste her moist skin and the breasts she'd kept locked away in her uniform. If he had ever wondered what alien flesh tasted like, specifically areola and its texture between his teeth and on the textures of his tongue, he wouldn't have to wonder anymore. Starfire had let him play with her chest for a while, cleavage, nipples and all for at least a solid half an hour, stroking the back of his neck and moaning. As the night became dawn, though, he explored other regions and, much like the sun, he rose.

* * *

><p>Seth wasn't exactly sure why he would have wandered around more in the open night, but he had. Ahead, the Tower approached, calling him to return to his official duties (though the transpiring events had been all but that). By now, the sun had been coming back up, exposing the hidden secrets of the night. Within moments, he'd be back to his "home" or whatever he felt like calling it. Seth Obsidian made his way to the concrete and landing that led to the main doors, entering without much of a thought. For whatever reason, the insomnia had been working its dreadful magic on his mind; he was weary, weak and tired and wanted nothing more than to sleep in his bed for the rest of the day.<p>

Given it was so early, he probably had a good chance of doing that, though this dinner fiasco would likely call to him. Using the elevator and making his way up, he ran into Cyborg, who was using some sort of vaporizer. "Is that pot?" Seth asked.

Cyborg simply stared at him. The two stood like that in the recreation room, motionless. Finally, Cyborg spoke, "Uh… it's… my medicine."

"For anxiety, right?" Seth asked.

Cyborg nodded, "Yes, yes of course it is, bro."

"Give me some," Seth snatched it from his hands, taking a long toke, slowly exhaling the THC riddled vapor into the air before handing it back, "you like a body medication more, don't you?"

Cyborg smirked, eyes slightly swollen and red, "Can't do the head high. With all that's been going on, I need something to help."

"I don't blame you. When is dinner again?"

Cyborg shrugged. "Probably late. Everyone went to bed just recently and I'm probably adding some more hours to my cat nap myself. Why?"

"I'll join in on this day of slumber," Seth rubbed his head, "I know I can come across as an absolute dick sometimes," Seth began pacing away, "and for that I apologize in which degrees I can, Cyborg. Good night."

Cyborg nodded, flopping onto the couch and finishing his "medication".

Seth had made it back to his room by the time the herbal remedy's active chemistry took effect on his mind. The lethargy bloomed, enveloping him, his body gently luring him into the clutches of sleep. There would likely be more nightmares but there would be dreams, too. Dreams of Raven crawling into his bed, licking down his torso and further, perhaps drawing his member into her saturated, sticky mouth and throat. He could picture her bent over, the perfect curvature of her Gothic, heart shaped butt swallowing every inch of him… and as the thoughts continued, so did the strength of sleep's arms.

* * *

><p>Dreams and nightmares both came and went, each leaving their own mark. There were the unholy images of Natas eating things alive and laughing about, likely masturbating to the whole thing and then there was, yet again, Raven and her completely nudity. Sometimes it was both her and Starfire and once, it was everyone working together as a team, trying to achieve some sort of orgy ridden orgasm. Waking up wasn't exactly difficult, but it wasn't completely of ease either. After getting some clothes, realizing the time was well beyond 6pm, Seth made his way to the main elevator, groggy and preferring to simply stay home and gaze through more information about the possible locations of his ultimate enemy. He found Starfire waiting at the elevator, the door open.<p>

"Sleep well, Seth Obsidian?" Starfire asked.

Seth shrugged, "More or less."

"We shall now dine," she stepped in first, smirking.

They both stepped into the lift and rode it down to the bottom floor. The other three Titans waited for them at the entrance, preparing themselves to go. Instead of driving, the five of them decided to walk. It could have been the cost of gas, though no one felt like debating it; the walk would probably do them good in recovering from the night before. They left the tower, the door shutting and locking itself on Cyborg's command, and the group slowly and carelessly headed down the paved roadway that led into the city. The Titans attempted to relax, making their way through the near labyrinthine structure of the metropolis's structures, sometimes failing in the quest (though only several times).

Street lamps provided an almost comfortable luminosity. Cars idled slowly by, people wandered around with tasks and errands to run and the sky held true to its canvas like nature. But for the most part it was calm and nice in the city, almost as if no one had a care in the world. Seth pondered this; it must have been too far into the main city area for Natas to work his magic – the thing of evil and shadows liked to start on the outskirts and work his way in, much like a pathogen of some kind.

"It's nice out," Cyborg noted.

Raven agreed monotonously, "Sure."

The Titans eventually reached their desired location, the same place that they had gone before to eat like always. It had become a sort of past time and, on certain occasions, a place of debriefing. A small pizza place with umbrella covered tables on the first and second floor, the group ready to eat. The Titans entered through the front door, the staff all but falling over themselves to help out the locally famous heroes. Seth found this annoying, though he was sure this probably perturbed the others as well, especially Raven and Cyborg. Soon, they were all seated at a table on the second floor, light music playing to give the scene something of enjoyment.

"Pink Floyd." Seth snapped his fingers.

"Pink who?" Robin tilted his head.

Seth glanced around, realizing that no one had any idea which artist he was talking about. "Never mind then," a headache was beginning to grow inside him, "not important."

There was no one else there, just the five of them.

The waiter quickly came and took their orders, then disappeared back into the shop, likely rushing the other employees to serve their protectors as quickly as possible. Everyone, or at least, Starfire, Robin and Cyborg, had agreed on a large pepperoni/Italian sausage pizza. The city's gratitude was quickly expressed, the waiter return with their drinks and a warm smile that screamed "tip me".

Seth sat at the end of the table, watching as the four teens talked amongst themselves. They spoke as if there was not a care in the world, as if nothing mattered. And for a moment, just a moment, Seth envied them. They had a meaning in life, they had their own destinies and purposes while he only lived for one reason and one singular reason. He now knew that the only reason he was alive was to take down Natas Black, if not removing himself in the process. Seth looked up suddenly as something disturbed the quiet. He slowly stood, attentive as his hands slipped into his trench coat pockets.

"Don't even think about it." spoke a voice from the shadows, stern.

The Titans looked up in surprise, first at Seth, then at the surrounding darkness. And then, almost as one, twenty six men dressed in dark suits with sunglasses on, despite the shadows, all carrying pistol grip shotguns, stepped out from various spots. They all held their weapons pointed at Seth, ignoring the others.

"We've got you now, Project Obsidian." one man, obviously the leader of this dickless bunch, said in a semi-confident tone.

Seth turned and looked at the other Titans. "I suggest you leave, lest you probably be shot and killed."

"What the hell is going on?" Robin demanded.

One man cocked his shotgun, "Do as he says, Titan."

"On who's orders?" Robin spat, jutting up.

"The Federal Government and military," one of them flashed an ID, then pointed for them to leave.

The Titans looked around at the men, then back at Seth, and quietly but quickly left. The dark suited men ignored them, their sights set on just Seth and him alone.

"Do you know how many of your kind I have killed?" Seth asked, not removing his hands from his trench coat. "How many have died coming after me? Dozens. Hundreds. How many of you are there? You are like cockroaches, impossible to get rid of." Seth said. "I will kill you all."

The leader wavered, looking uncertain for the first time. But then he remembered that he was being backed up by two dozen trained and armed men, and that this was just one teenager with a complex. Seth, in response to the dick's arrogance, ripped his pistols out of his trench coat and threw himself to a nearby mess of cover. He fired off a dozen rounds, all hits, ten head shots, two chest shots. The spooks cried out momentarily and fell to the ground, blood splattering to the restaurant's tiling. Seth abandoned his pistols, realizing he had not enough time to reload them, and rolled to his feet.

A few had already fired at him and missed, shooting at where he had been just an instant before. Seth dove at the nearest government agent feet first. The man's chest crushed inward, imploding on impact. The body went limp, meeting the ground with a wet thud. Seth regained his composure and then felt two shotguns being pressed to either side of his head. He brought both hands up, flat, palm facing forward, at the same time and hit both barrels with the back of his hands. The guns were ripped from the grips of their previous owners and turned around the face them, Seth grabbing both handles. He paused, the men glaring down the barrels of their fully loaded weapons, point blank in their faces.

"Oh!" one of them said, startled.

"Fuck!" the other screamed, and then Seth pulled the triggers.

There was a sickening sound as both them men's heads exploded at once, a fine crimson mist mixed in with bloody chunks of brain tissue. Bone fragments rains over Obsidian's face, dripping down to his chin with viscous snakes of gore. Seth grabbed both shotguns more firmly and turned them on the leader.

"Shit! Shoot him! Shoot him! Shoot him!" the leader screamed frantically, Seth putting a rather large hole in his chest.

He discarded the shotguns and threw himself to his side again as the men fired. One of them got lucky and managed to clip Seth in the side, tearing away a chunk of skin and part of his ribcage. Seth did not miss a beat, however. He rolled once again, got to his feet, extracted his knife and went right back to work. He spun round as a man came to meet him and slammed the blade into his eye, the knife now firmly wedge in place. Seth abandoned the effort of pulling it out and then grabbed another man's neck. Obsidian expertly twisted it, quickly ending the man's life in one quick motion. Efficiently, he worked his way through the surviving opponents. Once he was finished with them, having killed all of them, he regained his pistols and knife. Then, feeling the pain of the shotgun blast that had managed to kiss his sternum, he fled. Obsidian clutched his wound, heading back to his home in hopes of the madness stopping for the day.


	11. Reprise & Explanations

**Chapter XI: Reprise & Explanations**

_"The throat is deep and the mouth is wide  
><em>_Saw some things on the other side  
><em>_Made me promise to never tell  
><em>_You know me, I can't help myself, no_

_Now I got something you have to see  
><em>_They put something inside of me  
><em>_It's smile is red and it's eyes are black  
><em>_I don't think I'll be coming back."_

Seth made it back to Titan Tower quick enough, though he wondered if he'd been followed (which wouldn't surprise the teen). Wrapped in his bloodstained trench coat, he fled, his destination being the only home he'd known in the past several weeks. Nobody gave him much quarrel seeing that one, he was a Titan, and two, there was something obviously wrong with him due to the fact that there was so much miscellaneous blood and gore painted on his coat. He looked forward, his vision dazing just a bit. Ahead, the paved roadway that led to the Tower beckoned him with its fine, asphalt glory. It was darkening even further now with rain clouds filling the sky yet again, blocking out the natural luminosity of the moon and stars. Seconds passed and the water began to fall. In torrents and sheets it came, making the journey all the more difficult for Seth. But he had seen worse, much worse, and a mere shotgun blast to the torso and some rain was not going to stop him from reaching his destination.

Seth could already feel the healing agents that ran through his bloodstream working feverishly to repair the damage that had been done. With each cell nourished and rejuvenated, he approached. Eventually, Seth arrived at the entrance of the Titan Tower. He hit the access button that allowed him entrance and the door slid open, taking no moment to spare. Seth stalked into the main entrance hallway and over to the elevator, completely healed. Most likely, the Titans would be in the rec room or at least Seth hoped so, that's where he was going.

A moment later, the elevator doors slid open to reveal the short hallway that led to the recreation room. Seth quickly made his towards the room and when he entered, the Titans turned to look at him. Robin didn't waste any time in gathering answers. "What the Hell is going on?" Robin demanded, then paused as he saw the state the Seth was in.

Blood splattered his trench coat, hands and face, now painfully, brutally clear in the bright unforgiving light of the Titan Tower. Seth walked over to one of the chairs in the room and sat down, panting a bit (this tended to happen as he healed – it exhausted him, though rarely).

"I suppose it's about time I let you know. At least one of you is worthy of the tale." Seth said, glancing at Raven.

"Don't give me that worthiness crap," Robin pointed a finger at him, "how about you tell me everything or-"

"Or I break your finger into little pieces and ship it around the city?" Seth waved him off. "Look Robin," Seth pulled out a cigarette, wondering if he'd even enjoy it this time, "I know, you're in charge, right? You're not in charge of what's here, what's coming – so instead of waving your dick around, how about you sit down and listen."

"Well-"

Cyborg nudged him, "You should probably shut the fuck up now, boss."

Robin fell silent, murmuring beneath his breath.

"Now that that's done with," Seth exhaled, "I suppose I should begin."

Everyone sat down on the couches or chairs and began to pay attention to Seth as he spoke, not letting another word escape from their mouths. The mysterious figure would be dispelling his back story soon and, as much as they wanted to protest the recent events, something told them that this would be beyond important – something far more substantial than crucial. Seth watched as Raven's eyes transfixed on him, taking a breath and, for lack of a better word, beginning.

"It all started back when I was born, I suppose. My mother contracted a sickness, I hear, and died when I was around a year old. My father could not live with the grief and committed suicide a year later. I was sent to an orphanage, and not even a year after that, me and a few others were snatched up by the government. They experimented on us, trying out new procedures and biologically altering things, using genetics and whatnot. I was the only survivor of the whole thing. For years, as I grew, so did my… gifts. I became stronger, faster, smarter, but I also gained other abilities. My senses were kicked up beyond reason, I had special chemicals inserted into my bloodstream to repair any damage done to me at an exponential rate. By the time I was ten, I was stronger than most men and had seen more combat than most soldiers. But I learned something, I learned that they planned to use me, for battle, for war. So I simply killed them all - I killed all my mentors, all the security guards stationed there and blew up the compound that held me. Then I went underground and two years later I arrived in Grant City. A year later, the police saw me for my worth, since life was difficult I had to resort to violence and stealing. "The police caught me one day and offered a deal once they saw my abilities. They would offer food, shelter and clothing if I helped them out with the toughest of criminals. Seeing the advantage, I agreed. For two years, I tracked down their worst criminals in the city and murdered them all. Soon, there was no one left. So when a series of murders began to occur, I was called in. There had been ten so far, all exactly the same, all in the slums of the city. It was very strange, they were all decapitated by what appeared to be sheer brute force. I searched and searched for clues, but none could never be found. No hair, no blood, no DNA samples, no fingerprints. It was mind boggling. Finally, about a month ago, I discovered some of what was going on. I was investigating another murder in the slums when I was confronted by a man.

"He was a strange man. Tall, buff, perfectly groomed blond hair and icy, clear blue eyes. He wore a really expensive suit and spoke in a deep, rolling voice. He was perfect, in a frightening way. He explained to me what exactly he was, and the nature of the murders. I learned that he was a demon, sent from Hell long, long ago. Centuries, eons, ages, I don't know. It could have been since the dawn of time itself. But he asked me strange questions, like, why was I here? Why was I in Grant City, doing such pathetic work? Why had I not come to him yet?

"I became extremely confused, having never seen this man before in my life. Of course, I did not believe him at first, that he was a demon. I attempted to arrest him, but the man simply disappeared into thin air. Natas, Natas Black was his name. I became obsessed with finding this Natas Black. I searched everywhere, newspapers, birth records, police records, but everywhere I looked, it became painfully clear. Natas Black did not exist. There were no traces of him ever existing officially, which should have been impossible being in this day and age. No fingerprints, DNA, birth records, nothing. I searched and searched for him, all but living in the slums as I attempted to find him. Finally, he confronted me. A battle ensued, I shot him, I stabbed him, I threw a grenade at him, I managed to throw him onto some electrical wires, I got some arsenic into his system through the tip of a knife, but he would not die. More importantly, it seemed to be doing little, if any, damage to him at all. Eventually, he grew tired of it, I guess, and transformed into some horrible shape. Some horrible monster beyond description. What you saw in the warehouse was just one of his many forms.

"I quickly recovered and began my search again, even harder than last time. But something was happening... the city... was destroying itself. No, consuming. The crime rate soared, it seemed that everyone wanted to kill, rape or steal though sometimes all of the above. The cops were doing everything they could, but it was madness. And eventually I found out that all along, I had been playing into his plans by searching for him. So, I did something out of the ordinary, something not expected. The city ran on a very powerful, very large power plant. The place was going to shit anyway, so I set the reactor to overload and got the hell out of there. I thought I had killed him once and for all, but it seems that I did not. I wasted all of those lives, for nothing. And that's my story." Seth fell silent, looking down at his hands.

No one uttered a word as Obsidian drew more from his cigarette, gazing into what appeared to be nothing. "Natas Black… is beyond good and evil. This city is going to start ripping itself apart minute by the minute now. I saw what was left of one of the outskirts, perhaps in a vision – not sure which. It's starting any by the end of the week, this place will be a mecca of evil."

"That explains a lot," Starfire sighed.

"What do you mean?" Cyborg scratched his chin.

She shrugged. "I guess Natas can influence people, yes Seth?"

"Yes and I'm sure it's already started in each and every one of you." Seth snuffed out the smoke in his palm and exhaled.

"Well, I don't believe it." Robin said after a rather long amount of time.

"I really don't give a shit." Seth replied as he got to his feet and headed out of the room.

The others started to talk amongst themselves, but Seth ignored it all. Now, he was going to have to find a way to kill Natas Black all over again. He returned to his room, to ponder and research the city some more. It was then as he entered the room that he saw something that was completely unexpected and out of the ordinary (then again, what wasn't?).

A medium sized black cat lay sprawled out on the edge of his bed. His cluttered noises and clumsy use of the door must have woken it from its sleep; it looked around slowly, as if confused somehow, then looked quizzically up at Seth. The small, furry animal meowed once in a rather unique tone then slid back into sleep. Seth saw a collar, looking at the name inscribed upon its tag. There was just one word embossed on the metal piece: **Myrlan**. _Where in the hell did this come from? _Seth paused, trying to connect the dots on how a black cat wound up in his room. Perhaps it was from the other day when he'd been roaming the streets, though it could have been one of the Titans.


	12. Nude

**Author's Note:** This chapter contains an explicit scene with sexual themes, sexual content, adult content and nudity (in other words, it's erotic as in it's a sex scene). Raven/Seth.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter XII: Nude<strong>

"See the animal in his cage that you built,  
>Are you sure what side you're on?<br>Better not look him too closely in the eye,  
>Are you sure what side of the glass you are on?<p>

See the safety of the life you have built,  
>Everything where it belongs...<br>Feel the hollowness inside of your heart,  
>And it's all right where it belongs..."<p>

Cyborg stared at his television, void of anything useful to say. The reports had been flowing in steadily for several hours now, ever since Seth gave his speech. Inside Cyborg's room, Robin sat, watching the same footage on display for the cybernetic hero. News coverage of rape, murder and more were going haywire, as well as a revealing of a secret underground cult which involved lascivious things. The city was losing its mind, surely, and in the process tearing itself apart. "My god..." Cyborg rubbed his temples, eyes wide.

"This is insane – there's no way we can stop all of this." Robin chimed in, slack as the reporter was brutally murdered on screen.

"Well, leader? Commander, whatever you are? Do you we listen to Seth now?"

Robin stayed quiet for a decent amount of time before sighing, long and frustrated, "Sure, I guess we do. What other choice do we have?"

"Strange, bro," Cyborg rubbed the back of his neck, "you seemed really hateful in there toward him, ever since he joined. Why are you such a dick sometimes?"

"Things change. Guess I'm a product of the things we've seen," Robin fell silent, watching as more reports flooded in about the city consuming itself like a snake.

"How do you kill something that was never alive to begin with?" Cyborg asked.

Robin shrugged, "If I knew that, I'd be telling the team exactly what to do, but I don't. I don't even think Seth knows. Hell, this Natas character probably doesn't even know."

Cyborg suddenly changed the topic, which nearly confused Robin. "Did you fuck Starfire the other night, Robin?"

"What's it to you?" Robin tilted his head, curious.

Cyborg shrugged. "I don't know."

"If I did, what's the problem?"

Cyborg stared at the television, "Wonder if it was Natas's influence or legitimate feelings between you and her, you know what I mean brother?"

Robin immediately begin question his decisions from the other night, wondering if, when Starfire's ass was bouncing off his lap and devouring the girth of his wet cock, if it had only been the touch and vibes of the thing from the shadows. "I… I didn't think of it like that. I propose our feelings or legitimate – maybe us being around Seth is keeping Natas's powers at bay, I don't know. Maybe it's our nature and what we're supposed to do."

"I guess," Cyborg flipped the channel, watching another station cover the fires spreading throughout the area, "we have to stop this soon. There won't be anything left… are we already too late?"

Robin considered the question, then stood. "No, not if the tower is still standing."

* * *

><p>Seth stood quietly in his room. The city, or what was left of it, would be nothing but ash soon, no more and no less. Everything was going completely down the toilet, for lack of a better word. Crime rates had soared within the past two hours more than in the past two months – people were raping, murdering, looting and whatever other crime could be named. It was complete madness, a bastard child of anarchy and evil. Most of all, it was Natas Black working his dark magic into the minds of lesser beings. Seth sighed heavily. Inside of a few days, it had all fallen apart. Natas had found him, the Government had found him and soon, there would be another confrontation and Seth had a strong inclination that this was to be permanent in some way. Natas worked through lesser beings, minions, bums, homeless people and the like to accomplish his destructive magic, as it were. He infected their minds with his tainted visions and temptations, forcing them to do his bidding. Usually, he operated out of the slums, because that's where people who he needed always were in. The way it looked, the entirety of Jump City was becoming little more than a corroded cesspool.<p>

Seth wondered how in the Hell he was going to kill Natas. _You can't kill a demon, _he reminded himself. Demons were never alive to begin with, not in any of their forms; they were the end result of a second death given animation and breath. Seth had never felt more helpless; every enemy he had every fought in his entire life had had the ability to die, but this demon did not possess that ability. And, perhaps, that was what made him the most worthy adversary Seth had ever faced. He was pulled from his pondering as there were a few loud knocks on his door.

"Enter." Seth said, turning to face the sound as it slid open to reveal Robin.

"Me and the others are gonna go out and find this… Natas Black guy. And by the way, Raven wants to see you." Robin finished.

He turned and stalked off down the hallway. Either the leader hated talking to Seth or loathed admission of defeat or assistance. Seth's mouth formed something of a grin for whatever insane reason (what was sane, anyway?). He walked out of his room and moved on down the hallway towards Raven's room. What had the demoness wanted from him? _Demoness. _Seth wondered if that may have given her some connection to Natas, then dismissed the idea.

"Enter." Raven replied, whisper-light.

Seth pressed the activation button next to the doorway and it slid open. Raven was hunched over her desk, facing away from Seth – whatever she had on was somewhat revealing. It consisted of some slutty attire, that being Gothic in nature. A corset, lace underwear and what looked like garter belts. She even had gloves and a choker on. Obsidian presumed this was part of the ritual, including her lusty make-up (such mascara and eye liner). There were no artificial lighting systems within Raven's room, just candles in all their black waxen glory. Seth entered the room and pressed the close button, then approached her. As he did so, he saw that she was studying ancient text, old books and scrolls that were nearly falling apart. They were based around two general subjects, Hell and Spells.

"The occult has always been in my blood," she turned to him, her cleavage collecting shadows in the ambient candle light.

"What's the situation?" Seth asked,trying to hide his arousal (damn you, Natas).

"The situation is death, or at least entrapment. I believe there is a way to kill or at least trap Natas Black," Raven replied, looking up from her work and turning to face Seth again, "what did you use last time?" She asked.

Seth chuckled to himself, then responded casually. "Oh, just the usual. Guns, bombs, knifes, acid, poison, electricity, burning oil, beheading, a massive explosion."

"Mortal weapons cannot kill things like us." Raven stated.

"Well, now I know that… so you are part demon, then?" Seth said.

She shrugged, "In a manner of speaking. That may be our shot – I can't kill him, I'm not like my father or nearly high enough up to do that, but I can definitely send him back or trap him in something for at least a few thousand years."

"What gives you that idea," Seth watched as she stood, tapping a pencil to her mouth and pacing around the room – he couldn't help but watch the way her thighs and cheeks met, let alone her wide and feminine hips.

"I've been doing research on some of my old books and I'm trying to find a way, in a manner of speaking. But right now, I suggest you go with the others to hunt him down and find some kind of weakness. I can't take him down while he's in good health." Raven said, sitting on the edge of her bed. She stared at him for a moment, eying his trousers and chest.

Seth raised a brow. "See something?"

"Flesh," she crossed her legs, looking away, "perhaps it's best if you leave with them."

"When are they going again?"

She shrugged, "Shortly, I believe."

"Raven..." Seth's voice became frail, almost as if embarrassed.

She turned back to him, eyes wide and a hint of blush rising up to her face – somewhere in the room, her energies were beginning to manifest and collect. "Yes, Obsidian?"

"Have you… been having any visions..." Seth tried to fight himself, but was simply to weak to his desires, "of us?"

Raven didn't respond immediately, almost prompting Seth to leave. Finally, she spoke, "I want to have sex with you, Seth. Right now. Badly. But I'm not sure how my body will react… to something I want so bad. I would tear my room apart… and I should conserve that energy for our battle, to keep us all safe..."

Seth's heart split into two, regretting saying anything relating to his lust at all. "I see," he turned, attempting to leave.

"Seth," Raven stood, using her energies to lock the door, "there's another way."

Obsidian paused in place, slowly turning back to her. "Another way?"

"You can look," she tugged at her panties, "but can't touch – you won't need to, anyway. I can show you what I look like… and use a little trick I know."

"I… don't know," Seth was trying to fight his urges again, but Raven was having none of it – she had plans for him.

"No, Seth. We both want this – I need at least one of us to be hormone-free for the next few hours. That trick I spoke of," she unzipped the back of her corset, "it's kind of like a lucid dream, except you don't need to sleep," next, she worked her laces, "we can do whatever we want to each other through a sort of meditation – you won't even know it's not physical. When you finished," her upper half was near nude, "I can use that energy against Natas..."

"You mean use the energy I give you during sex as a kind of boost – like a reserve?" Seth asked, frozen in spot, Raven finally revealing her breasts to him, soft and luscious.

He took a moment to appreciate the curves of her swelling breasts; the puffy, pale-violet areolas, the harden, tiny nipple in the middle and the piercings expertly inserted through them. Her swelling, luscious and creamy-toned breasts begged attention – within seconds, Seth was as hard as a rock, pulsating and ready to copulate. She grinned slightly, her energies wrapping around him, caressing and cradling his body. What had she been doing to him? Time wasn't wasted – she was already telling him… telepathically, perhaps.

"Oh, we'll be having sex, Seth – after all, the mind just interprets your senses; like I said, a meditation of sorts," she explained, turning slowly to show off her ass.

"Like… it will feel real, look real, taste real… but it's all in my head?" Seth felt his clothes melting away.

Her rear was just as impressive as her chest, possibly more. He could picture kneading its cheeks between his fingers and the palm of his hand, watching the curves of it, Raven's ass high in the air, taking his length. It begged if not cried for attention, be it penetration or groping. Her voice echoed back into his head, the nude Raven standing and playing with herself, already wet. "I think it's my best asset," her eyes gathered a white glow, "my rear I mean. Now, I need your energy." she reached out to him, palms open, hovering above the sides of his head.

"What do I do?" Seth asked, nude.

"Close your eyes… and do whatever you want to me… if you can keep up," before she could finish, the visions started; there, the slutty Titan laid out on a bed, ready to be had.

"Of course," Seth obliged.

Beyond space and time, their bodies mingled – their fluids exchanged, flesh and skin touched and their lips met with explicit sensuality. Their lust had remained unchallenged; had their been any other creatures in this realm Raven created, they ignored them (or perhaps watched). Her body and its weight were even finer than Seth could have predicted – he watched as it contoured and moved beneath his touch, Raven's nipples growing firmer by the minute. The heat in her lap continued to swelter, not extinguished by the demoness's moisture. He could feel her energy tentacles doing things to him, twisting and teasing him in places he didn't think possible. Before long, she was on her knees, working her hips and rocking back and forth, trying to milk the last bit of seed out of him. Seth, realizing this moment was his happiest, didn't prevent Raven from achieving her goals. He held her in place, groaning as his vibrations were exchanged to her… inside of her…

Raven moaned, her ass as high in the air as it could, face buried in the pillow, drinking him dry with each oscillation. "Ughn… fuck Seth," she panted, drooling, not expecting him to produce such a stick mess of energy, "that's a lot," she exhaled slowly, unable to remember the last time she'd had to fill herself up that much.

Seth fell backward, her black tentacles of mist and magic supporting him in a bed, "I feel… high."

"You'll feel that way before you wake up in a few seconds." Raven rolled over, her lower tummy glowing, the demoness patting her energy filled womb.

"Just a few seconds?" Seth's disappointment was audible.

Raven crawled toward him, her breasts round and swaying in the ethereal gravity, eyes big and feminine, "Well, it will seem like… days of just… this, over and over. But according to the clock in our rooms, this will be over in a few seconds if that," her finger ran up his chin, "go again? I need more."

Seth nodded, "What next?"

She winked, opening her mouth and showing off her throat, a wet tongue in place and gobs of spittle begging for a taste of him.

"Oh," Seth began yet again, happily agreeing.


	13. The Search

**Author's Note:** The second to last chapter. We're almost there, guys. I went through and fixed the last two chapters (incorrect song lyrics and chapter labels). At the end of this there will be one final chapter entitled "Trivia", which will cover the development of the new version, differences between the old version, the meaning of the poems/lyrics before each chapter as well as some other interesting stuff.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter XIII: The Search<strong>

_"I woke when the light hit me right in the temple,_  
><em>Felt something cold touch my toes as it passed…<em>

_Might not be the face you expect,_  
><em>But he's clearly insane, got me begged in the back…<em>

_Just need a bit of camera, point the gun at the eyes…_  
><em>Or at the knees, had to shoot, had to fight,<em>

_Gonna take out the gunman."_

Dreams came and went, some more innocuous ramblings of Natas, attempting to take him over and others of he and Raven. Seth shifted in his bed, waking up even though he didn't want to. How long had it been? He'd left Raven's room after only being in her presence for a mere fifteen minutes. Now, looking at his alarm clock, it revealed that only another fifteen minutes had passed. It felt like he'd had a full night's rest, though he knew this was physically impossible. Regardless, he felt… good, for the first time; instead of his cold, selfish demeanor, he felt temperate and slightly less selfish.

There was a page over the intercom. "Seth, it's Robin. Are you ready?"

Seth slowly sat up, glancing around his room before looking back up to the communication unit, "As ready as I'll ever be."

The comms unit clicked off, Obsidian standing and sorting through some fresh clothes before finally readying his weapons. He went down in the elevator and came to the front entrance where the other three Teen Titans were preparing for battle.

"How are we going to do this?" Robin asked Seth.

Seth rubbed his forehead, "Your guess is as good as mine."

"I've got the industrial sector." Cyborg said after running a systems check.

"Inner city for me." Robin said, making sure all of his stuff was in place.

"Docks and warehouses." Starfire stated, tugging at her clothing.

"I'll float then," Raven finished adjusting her gear, the make-up and ritualistic marks now gone from her face – for a moment, they glanced at each other.

"I'll take the slums." Seth said, knowing that that was where Natas would be.

Robin passed out wrap around ear-piece comm units to everyone. With that, they split up over the city and went in search of the minion of Hell. In time, Natas would reveal himself, though he'd likely try and do some damage along the way. If Raven was right, this was their only shot at sending him back or at least slowing him down considerably. Seth had a moment where, for whatever reason, he felt out of character. He pulled Robin aside, gripping his shoulder. The leader stopped, confused and likely ready to scold the newcomer. They stared for a moment, gazes locked, Robin realizing that Seth Obsidian's focus was not to challenge his authority (like he had been doing from the first day), but to tell him something important.

"Robin," Seth said, the others already filtering out of the area, "be careful. This thing… it doesn't have any sort of rules or principles. It will do what it wants."

Robin nodded, Seth slowly letting go. "Okay," and for the first time, Robin sounded like he was agreeing with him.

* * *

><p>An hour later, the Teen Titans were having no luck at all. Cyborg had searched all over the industrial sector, looking in every single place that he could. Seth was sure the others had been doing this, turning up nothing. Natas was playing games, moving them around like chess pieces. This competition, as it were, could tip in Natas's favor at any breath of a second if it hadn't already. He had went over to help Starfire at the docks, the story being about the same. Empty bags floated aimlessly around, tumbling beneath their near weightless plasticity. Above, the sky had darkened, bathing the landscape and placid waters in glimmers of eerie moonlight. Ghosts came to mind, though Seth had ignored this thought.<p>

They had finished up the search there and then had gone to help out Robin, since the inner city was the largest part of them all. They hadn't heard from him, likely because he hadn't found anything useful. Jump City had been annihilating itself, surely, but it had also been parasitic in its doings; with so many people dead and so much chaos, things were beginning to resemble the emptiness and shadows Seth saw in his vision not so long ago.

_The Shadow Man, _as the homeless had called him… or it.

"Anything?" Starfire chimed in over the radio to Robin and of course, he responding with a big fat zero. It wasn't too surprising, honestly. Natas Black loved the cat and mouse aspect of his fights and like a good demon, loved to milk it for all its worth. Seth was throughly searching the slums of the inner most city, where Natas was surely be. He knew that all they were really doing was buying time for Raven, so she could find a way to get rid of Natas. Of course, that would mean that his destiny had been fulfilled… Seth made his standard check in (they had agreed to notify each other every fifteen minutes), waiting for a response.

He continued his search. Obsidian was currently in an abandoned, burnt out old apartment building painted in ash and charred remains. The windows had been broken out and the place had been gutted probably by a firebomb of some kind, but the general structure of the building was still standing. There were signs of recent use; barrels and trash cans with smoldering remains in them, heaps and piles of pillows and blankets, puddles of urine and alcohol scattered about in odd places. Though it seemed recent, there was no one around; everyone who had previously occupied the area was probably out looting and pillaging by now.

It was about that time when the comm unit clicked on, Robin came onto the channel, frantic and laced with anxiety. He was under attack.

"_Help! It's Natas! He's attacking me!"_ Robin screamed. A sudden cry of pain burst through the channel, followed by demented laugh of hilarity that echoed far too long.

The rest of the team tried not to panic, Raven, Starfire and Cyborg all meeting with Seth moments ago.

"Robin! Where are you?!" Starfire cried.

"_Behind… old fir__e__… ation."_ Robin crackled through the radio waves, exploding with a cry of agony and pain.

Seth knew where the was (he had pretty much memorized the city inside and out from all his studies of the detailed maps), piecing together the location. It was less than an eighth of a mile away from his current location. Seth turned in that general vicinity and began running. If he was lucky, Robin would be in a coma or dead (all things holy forbid that Natas kept Robin alive). If the leader were still breathing and Natas still maintained his presence on Earth, Robin would be permanently plagued by visions of whatever the demon felt like. _If only that were the worst case scenario, _Seth bemoaned to himself, picking up pace. Ahead, the fire station approached.

* * *

><p>A little bit later, Seth and the other two Titans were gathering around a bloody, sobbing heap of clothing and human on the ground that was Robin. He was passed out, almost, and bleeding from over a dozen different wounds. Natas was nowhere to be seen (though the thing from beyond could have been hiding in a dozen different shadows and patches of blackness all around them).<p>

"We must get him back to the Tower!" Starfire exclaimed.

Cyborg slid his hands and arms beneath the wounded leader, holding him as more fluid poured from his likely mortal wounds.

"What about a hospital?" Seth asked, knowing that an emergency room was closer to them than the Tower was.

"No, we've got top of the line medical supplies there and Raven is an excellent medic." Cyborg replied.

He handed Robin over to Starfire, who picked him gently up and began to flying back towards the tower. Cyborg turned to leave, but then paused as he saw Seth lingering.

"What is it?" he asked.

Seth nodded in the direction of the back wall to the old fire station, and there, on the wall, words had been burned into the concrete. _We could have been together, Obsidian – now, there will be but a wasteland. I will take everything you know and rip it apart atom by atom, starting with your precious friends and then the world__._ Seth spat at the wall and stalked off. Cyborg lingered a moment, then hurried after him, the feeling of being watched growing exponentially.

* * *

><p>Seth stalked blindly around the tower. Natas was back and more powerful than ever. Currently, there was nothing Seth could do besides regret ever being brought into life. Robin was passed out in the infirmary, Raven was locked away in her room, doing research after tending to him (it would appear that he would live). Starfire and Cyborg were out in the city doing what they could to clean up the mess that Natas was currently in the process of making. The two were going as fast as they could all across the city, going to the worst trouble spots in attempts to reduce the deconstruction. They could only be in so many places at once. Assailants usually gave up or ran away rather than fight two of the most powerful people within the city. It was getting even worse now, though. The city was tearing itself apart through sheer force of chaos. Seth finally stopped his roaming and came into the rec room, following the sound of a drone of voices. The TV was on. Cyborg and Starfire sat slumped in two of the most comfortable chairs that occupied the room, covered in dirt and grime complimented by a slew of scuffs and bruises. Seth stood in the doorway, unnoticed for a brief second, and watched the TV.<p>

"Back so soon?" Obsidian asked.

Starfire stood, "How is our Robin?"

"He'll live," Seth sighed, "the best he can after this, anyway."

A female reporter stood in the street, trying to abide by the rules of journalism as the city collapsed around her.

"_As you can see here, crime rates are soaring. The police force, fire fighters and medics are doing what they can to cope with the situation, but half of these people are fighting against them. It's complete chaos out here."_

There were some cops around, firing into a crowd of rioters with cans of sleeping gas and tazers, ignorant to how little it was doing. In the background, a man was shaking his head in all directions, spraying blood from his facial pores. There were others, at various places on the screen, doing the same thing. A pedestrian came running out of a building on fire, screaming at the top of his lungs. Another man was being held by two others by the arms, slowly pulled apart by two other goons foaming at the mouth. A car suddenly exploded across the street; a piece of scrap metal came flying through the air and decapitated the reporter. Her gore splattered all over the screen, sirens whining in the distance. It appeared that there was no delay; there was another explosion, followed by a rather loud scream, some gunfire, and then the screen turned to fuzz. The scene quickly changed back to the TV studio where two anchors were talking rapidly.

"_Casualties are reported in the hundreds, now. __D__amage is unknown... it could be in the billions for all we know."_ he stated, voice fragmented and horrified.

Seth turned his attention away from the TV as Robin came into the rec room through another entrance.

"What's going on?" he asked, wrapped up in bandages and clutching the wound on his side.

"Robin!" Starfire wrapped herself around him, sobbing.

"I'm fine Star," he let her release him, pacing closer to the TV.

"Take a look for yourself." Cyborg replied. He muted the broadcast and pointed over to the window.

Seth watched as Robin hobbled over to the window and looked out. "Well shit! Why the Hell aren't we out there!? They're peeling themselves apart!" he cried.

"What the fuck do you think we've been doing!?" Cyborg screamed in reply. Robin studied him, Cyborg's armor caked with dried blood and burnt in places. Star saw the same damaged; her clothing was torn and her hair was partially burnt off.

"Sorry." Robin said quietly.

"I've never seen… a woman of Earth… pull her own bones out," Starfire's gaze was fixed somewhere in the room, partially looking down (if anything, she was replaying the memory in her head).

"I know, me too. It's just… this is unimaginable." Cyborg replied.

There was a long silence that reigned over the rec room.

"It's Natas." Seth finally said from the back of the room.

"What do you mean?" Cyborg asked.

"It's Natas, working his dark evil, his horrible magic. He infects the minds of lesser beings and forces them to do his bidding, sometimes to themselves. Not because he has to, not because it's his task, it's because it gives him pleasure in doing so." Seth said, staring out the window over the city.

"Well, we've got to stop him!" Robin cried.

"Think you can?" Seth replied. Robin fell silent, remembering what had happened to him last time he had had a run in with Natas Black.

"I want to go after him again." Seth said finally. "I want to test something out."

"What?" Robin replied.

"Well, he seems to come under damage when new weapons attack him. I found this out when I shot him, for a while, it damaged him, then it stunned him, then it just did nothing to him. So, maybe Starfire's energy and Cyborg's plasma weapons might do some damage to him. I want to find out, it might help us with Raven's plan." Seth explained.

"What exactly is Raven's great plan?" Robin asked.

"You can't kill something that's not alive, right? But maybe you can trap it." Seth said, it was a command, and Cyborg and Starfire did not disobey.

They simply rose to their feet and followed.

"Fine, do what you will," Robin slumped back against the wall, "I thought I was in charge here, but whatever".

"Seems like a good and simple enough plan - if there's a chance we can hurt this Natas Black, then we must take the chance." Starfire replied.

"Yeah, what she said." Cyborg said. "You in or out?" he asked.

"I'll go." Robin replied.

* * *

><p>Some time later, Seth, Cyborg, Starfire and Robin came onto a vacant parking lot in the middle of the slums. Burnt out old apartment buildings lined the rim of the cement cracked parking lot. The skeletal remains of what was once a health center stood, gutted. Loose pieces of trash blew in the slight wind. The four stood still and in the silence, they listened... they waited. Then they came, but not who the they had expected. At least thirty more dark suited men came stepping out from various hidden spots among the buildings and other areas. The spooks all held submachine guns this time and wore sunglasses in the dimming twilight. Slowly, they formed a circle around the group, cutting off any avenue of escape.<p>

"Nowhere to go this time, Obsidian." one man said, stepping forward.

"We have you, and don't even thin-" his words were suddenly cut off as a bladed disc came out of nowhere and sliced neatly through his neck.

The head fell off, a surprised look on the face, bounced a few times and rolled away. The headless body took a few awkward steps, blood spurting like a fountain out of the stump and then fell over. All eyes shifted to one shadow as someone stepped out of it and into the light. The man was clearly over six feet tall and extremely muscular, almost grossly so. His platinum blond hair was slicked back perfectly, his icy blue eyes gleaming with intelligence. His face was clean cut and perfectly unblemished and to complete that horribly perfect complexion, there was a smile that showed his immaculately white and even teeth. His clothing was impeccable: a dark black Italian suit, the kind that only the richest of businessmen wore.

"Good evening, old friend." the man said in a deep, rolling, rich voice, looking directly at Seth.

"Nice to see you again, _**Natas**_," Seth readied his knife.

"You are interfering with a government investigation," another dark suited man said, stepping forward, "you must leave now or face very heavy consequences." The man was about to say something else, but Natas turned and looked at him.

"I now give you all the chance to leave this place. If you do not within ten of your human seconds, then I will be forced to drag each and every one of your souls down into the deepest, darkest pits of Hell." Natas Black finished in a disgustingly calm, level and even cheery, voice.

The man seemed to ponder this comment for a moment, then opened his mouth to say something in response. Natas raised his arms, smirking wide. The ground cracked and broke underneath the remaining men, tendrils of smoke and horror wrapping around their ankles, waists and arms. They cried out as burning, decaying arms came up out of the ground and began ripping them downward. Colored flames licked up out of the ground and scorched the proximity. The men fired at the arms in vain; there was simply nothing that could save them now, not even a change of heart from the demon orchestrating the execution. Slowly, the screams were silenced and nothing was left but the howling of the wind. Then the Titans attacked, hesitating no further. Starfire and Cyborg nailed Natas's chest and torso with their powers.

It seemed like it affected him, but as the smoke clear Natas was still standing there, laughing. His form suddenly began to change. The transformation had begun, Seth knew. He was at least twenty feet tall now, long claws extending from his digits. His mouth was stuffed full of more than razor sharp teeth, a long, torn cape (somehow a part of his flesh) flowing in the wind. Then, he attacked. A long arm suddenly lashed out and swatted at Robin. He was sent flying across the parking lot, knocked out cold. Natas lashed out again. Seth narrowly avoiding the blow.

"Come here, my boy." Natas moaned sensually.

Cyborg and Starfire attacked again, blowing wet holes in the frame of the demon. He roared in pain and jutted his arm out again, this time hitting Starfire out of the air.

"Retreat!" Seth yelled.

Cyborg kept Natas's attention with constant fire from his plasma cannon while Starfire picked up Robin's unconscious form and flew off, blood running down her back. Cyborg, satisfied with his charade, turned and ran. Natas had eyes only for Seth now, furious and hungry. Obsidian had already left though, evading Natas yet again. Seth hopped up onto the second story of the gutted apartment building and disappeared into the darkness.

"No! Face me!" Natas bellowed, cracking the foundation of nearby apartments.


	14. Two Executions

**Chapter XIV: Two Executions**

_"Yesterday I found the world was ending,_

_A little more every day_  
><em>Falls apart and slips away<em>  
><em>I don't mind, I'm okay<em>  
><em>Nothing ever stays the same<em>

_While we can remember when_  
><em>Always were, yeah, even then<em>  
><em>Stay with me, hold me near<em>  
><em>While I'm still here..."<em>

Seth groaned lightly in pain, something he did not regularly do.

He tried to remember what happened, where he was, and what he was doing there thought it tended to elude him. After moments of pressing, it all came back to him in a rush: he was just making it away from Natas when the thing from below had begun to bellow angrily because Seth was running. Apparently, Natas didn't like being ignored (which he made painfully clear). It was a logical choice; Seth had gathered enough information on the creature, plus he knew that he would surely die if he fought Natas now. Odds were he'd probably die later tonight anyway, but he kept that to himself. He knew, deep down, that once the energies of Natas Black had been canceled out, he very well could be too. Then, during his act of futility, it fell apart – the apartment complex, empty and barren, had collapsed beneath him.

A rather large piece of mortared bricks came crashing down onto Seth's torso, then another hit him on the head with such great force that it caused him to lose consciousness at an alarming rate.

So, that answered one of the questions… now, where was he? Seth opened his eyes and bright, almost titanium white light came exploding into his vision as unwelcome as a hydrogen warhead. He banished the pain of both the wounds and the excruciating bright light from his senses, a talent he had picked up somewhere along the way, and slowly sat up. A light sheet that covered his bare, pale chest fell away from him. He appeared to be within the Titan Tower, the infirmary section to be more precise. Seth tore away the rest of the blankets and looked down at his chest, most of it wrapped in blood soaked bandages. The fluid had turned a dead, brown color, likely scabbed over and healed by this point (it did take longer when something that never should have been took a blow at him).

He peeled one of the bandages and saw what he expected to see: nearly perfectly unblemished skin. Seth healed at a horribly fast rate, something that came with his genetic enhancement care package. For whatever reason, as he looked over the new scar, something like a demon would leave marks. As Seth looked around, he saw something: a figure, hunched over a makeshift desk.

It was Raven, passed out on the flat surface, her cloak covering her. Seth swung his feet over the side of the examination table in which he laid on and stood up. They had only taken off his trench coat and shirt, nothing else. He wondered what condition the battered old coat was in; it had been his favorite for a long, long time. He saw it folded, along with his shirt, on the counter next to the examination table.

Both items had been repaired, for whatever reason, and now held a sort of newness to them, like a babe in an operating room.

Seth was just pulling on the trench coat when Raven awoke.

"I took the liberty of cleaning and repairing it myself." her voice was pleasant.

"Thanks." Seth replied quietly. "Have you found anything?" he asked, indicating the notebooks and ancient papers after a bit of silence had passed.

"Yes, I believe that I have a plan to get rid of Natas Black once and for all." Raven said immediately, she began to look over the papers again.

"Explain?"

"It's pretty simple, I've found an old spell that can capture him, send him back to Hell for a very, very long time. The only problem is, it takes about ten minutes to conjure up. So… we'll need to hold his attention for ten minutes while I chant up the spell." Raven explained.

"Something tells me that won't be very hard," Seth brushed his fingers over the new scars on his torso.

She nodded, "Yeah."

"I've got a plan to help out with that. I've found a way to if not physically hurt then at least stun Natas for a time. Plasma; it's a completely new form of weaponry that he has not encountered before. It takes him about four battles to get used to a new weapon, from what I've seen in previous skirmishes with him. There's only been one battle, so if me and Cyborg can construct a few more compact plasma cannons, we'll be in some business. I'll have to arm myself with a few, so will Robin. That little stick of his ain't worth shit against him." Seth explained.

Raven gathered up her things and then they both left the infirmary and headed down the hallway.

"How long was I out?" Seth asked.

"About ten hours, things have really gone to shit since then. Starfire has been resting, Robin has been trying to go out and do battle but Starfire won't let him. Cyborg has been fighting the battle out there pretty much single handedly." Raven replied.

"Everyone will need to be in top shape for this." Seth said.

Raven nodded as they entered the rec room. Starfire was lounging in one of the chairs, Robin sitting upright in another one, very tense. Cyborg looked like he had just gotten back. Raven explained to them their plan, and Robin liked it a lot, happy to finally be doing some real work.

"Until the end, right?" Cyborg gave a thumbs up.

Starfire, for the most part, had recovered from any injuries she had and was ready to go back into action. For the next two hours or so Seth collected hidden talents aplenty with the help of tons of extra parts, tools and schematics for Cyborg's plasma cannon, constructed more compact, more powerful hand held plasma cannons and a few grenades. He made six plasma cannons, three for him and three for Robin since Cyborg already had one. Raven was not going to fight, instead working on her incantation. Starfire had her powers which were close enough to plasma anyway. He divided up the eight plasma grenades, two for each of them excluding Raven once again. Finally, after hours time of preparation, everyone was ready.

* * *

><p>The five flew over what once was their city and now, just a writhing mass of chaos, torture and crime. A lot more of it was on fire now, most left to rubble and ash. Those who had some sense in them were fleeing the city any way possible, by air or sea or land. Once again, the group set down in some abandoned parking lot in the slums, the smoke putrid in the air with the stench of flesh decaying. They did not even bother with a search as within a few minutes, Natas showed up, arrogantly addressing Seth. Raven had already slipped into the shadows, ready to begin her chanting once the battle had begun.<p>

"Good to see you once again, old friend." Natas said with a large smile on his face.

"You bastard, how can you call my your friend?" Seth replied.

And for the first time ever, the look on Natas's face changed to that of confusion.

"Can you say that you honestly do not remember me?" Natas asked.

"Yeah, I remember you, back in Grant City. Where I blew up the power plant to kill you, but still you lived." Seth replied.

"So, you do not remember." Natas concluded. "Has your genetic tampering really repressed your memories that much?" everyone turned to look at Seth, confused as much as Natas now.

"What are you talking about?" Seth asked.

"Come on dear boy, we share a lot in common," Natas's nails grew long, dripping with venom and fog.

"You're screwing with me, demon." Seth primed a plasma grenade.

Natas laughed, "Oh Obsidian, how could you forget?"

"I'm getting rid of you tonight, forgetful or not." Seth's plasma grenade whirred, ready to be used.

"Oh," Natas seemed somewhat heart broken, "you really want me gone?"

"You're not coming back," Seth growled.

"Enough talk, let us get this measly battle over with so I can get back to destroying your precious city." Natas said, the smile returning to his face.

He opened his mouth impossibly wide, something like a moan and a howl and a shriek all at once exiting from his inhuman lips. It reverberated across the slums, shaking dust from fixtures and doors. He began to change… twist and transform into something much more powerful than the sum of its parts. His form was similar to what it was before, only this time he was twice fold in height. Seth looked back at Raven, who nodded and began her chanting. It was quiet, but just loud enough to conjure up the spell. Then the battle began; everyone opened up with whatever form of powers they had, hoping to keep him at bay. Starfire rose up above Natas and rained down powerful alien energy upon him. Seth, Cyborg and Robin all fired upon various parts of Natas's massive form, doing lots of damage and blowing great holes within the leathery flesh. Seth's grenade landed next to him, igniting in a flash of neon heat. He cried out angrily and lashed out, Starfire dodging his attacks best she could as the others battered Natas with the plasma. After a moment or so, Natas brought himself back on track – the pain and damage had thrown him momentarily off and allowed the attackers to get the better of him, but no more.

He picked up the remains of the plasma grenade, "A toy?"

He brought down his mighty hand towards the Titans. They scattered, but not nearly quick enough. The ground shook violently and cracked, Robin knocked off his feet and Cyborg thrown painfully fast into a brick wall that crumbled under the impact. He slowly got back to his feet, throwing bricks off of himself.

Robin regained his stance, then primed another one of the plasma grenades. He tossed it as hard as he could, the thing attaching itself to Natas's chest, an adhesive agent that Seth had applied around the outer perimeter of the grenade. Natas cried out angrily and tried to get the grenade off, but still it remained in place, then exploded. Natas was thrown off balance for a second, a jagged hole quickly healing in his chest. Seth could already see it starting to fix itself through some dark magic, the healing process growing exponentially. Seth checked his watch, which he had appropriated and started a ten minute countdown. _Shit, _he thought. If anything, Natas was adapting faster.

Nearly five minutes remained, though it seemed like an eternity. Seth cursed angrily and fired until the power reserves of his first plasma cannon ran dry, holding back his panic. He discarded the empty gun and pulled out another one, then began firing again. Seeing the extremely effective power of the plasma grenades, Seth primed one of his own and tossed it onto Natas. It attached to his leg and exploded. Even though he howled loudly in pain, his reconstitution was faster than before. Seth and the other continued their attack, Natas continued his own.

Natas swatted sideways with his massive and mighty hand, Seth expecting his attack. Robin, however, had not been. He was in the middle of throwing his second grenade; he had just gotten it into the air when the swipe hit him. It sent him flying – he nailed a building and did not rise. The impact had either killed him or knocked him unconscious (Natas seemed to enjoy tormenting the poor commander in chief). Starfire was up above, skirting beneath cloud, always just out of reach of Natas's deadly attacks. She had already used up her two grenades and now relied on her alien abilities. She saw Robin's unmoving form and for just a second was distracted. This was all the demon needed. He swatted her out of the sky like a fly, annoyed by her buzzing as it were. She cried out and was sent diving towards the ground below. She landed in a dumpster, in the same unknown places as Robin. Now it was just down to Seth and Cyborg. They both continued their attacks, bombarding Natas with a multitude of plasma bolts. Seth checked his watch once again, just about two minutes left now. Not much left to go, but they had to keep Natas distracted for a just a little while longer. The battle continued onward, not ceasing for a moment. Seth could almost hear Raven chanting now; she was getting louder.

Seth depleted his second plasma cannon, threw it to the ground and unslung the very last weapon. He did not know how long it would hold out; hopefully it would be long enough. Cyborg was pushing himself to the limits, Seth could see. He was dodging attacks and putting real force behind the plasma assaults, using up most of his energy in doing so. Seth threw his last plasma grenade; it stuck itself to Natas's face and exploded. He cried like some horrible beast in pain, caught in metal teeth. Obsidian checked the amount of energy left in his gun. It was about half way depleted, possibly less. Robin, unconscious and still, likely had some left in his gun.

He had just finished using up his second gun before the attack had gotten him. Seth began to walk backwards, firing as fast as he could to keep Natas occupied. He quickly reached Robin, knelt down and snatched up the gun. He held it in the other hand and fired them both. Quickly he checked his watch: there was now just under a minute to go. Seth watched as Cyborg threw one of his plasma grenades, this time not seeming to do much damage to the unholy thing. One of Seth's guns ran out of energy and refused to fire anymore. In the background, Raven, chanting louder still, almost ready to use the archaic spell. It seemed that Natas heard her too, shouting in madness and rage.

"I've had enough of your toys and nursery rhymes!" he frantically began to look for her as slowly, darkness began to form.

It was under thirty seconds now. Raven could be heard throughout the parking lot, nearing completion. Natas screamed again and began to tear the place down around him, as the counter broke twenty seconds Raven made herself visible. She was all but screaming the chant now, the air behind Natas slowly began to swirl, growing inhumanly dark and inviting. Streetlights all around them exploded and died, sending showers of sparks over the landscape. The entire area began to rumble. It was happening... the portal to Hell was opening, demanding a passenger to come through. Ten seconds now – the screams of the damned and the flames of Oblivion shot out of the doorway. Starfire was safely hidden in the dumpster and Robin was anchored underneath a ton of rubble, his breath shallow… but alive. Cyborg ran to one of the nearby buildings, trying to make his way to Robin and Starfire.

"Fuck!" Seth's last weapon ran out of energy and became useless, Obsidian throwing it to the ground. The portal was fully open now, things rolling into its cyclone of space. Raven threw herself to one side into the building that she had previously been hidden in, watching as the door to Hell began to pull Natas into it.

"**NO! I WILL NOT GO BACK!"** Natas bellowed.

"Send a postcard, fucker," Seth muttered, fighting the suction of the portal.

"You… _**TRAITOR!**_" Natas lashed out, inhumanly fast and caught Seth in the torso.

The blades of his fingers pierced Seth in the stomach and upper chest, effectively disemboweling him. Before Natas could deliver a final blow, the many hands and tongues of the damned restrained him. Natas howled with rage, rocking the entirety of the area. Buildings crumbled and cars exploded, bits of the debris following the demon into Hell. Natas's face melted, his horrific form doing much the same and flowing into the gateway. His bones crushed, flesh tore and then, suddenly, it was over.

Natas was pulled relentlessly into the portal and it snapped shut, almost like a light being turned off.

Starfire came up out of the dumpster and Robin regained consciousness, followed by Raven and Cyborg. As they regrouped, there was a cry of pain from Seth, the young adult laying on the ground in a pool of his own flesh and blood. This time, his wounds were not healing. The Titans ran to him, hovering over his body. They rushed to Seth's side. Raven was there first, kneeling down over him with wide eyes. He hacked and coughed violently, blood seeping out of the massive wounds left by Natas Black in gobs of liquid crimson. When he coughed, more and more blood came out. Raven held Seth carefully in her arms, holding back sobs.

"Come on, let's get him to a hospital." Robin said, barely able to look at Seth.

"N-No, I'm… not going to make it." Seth replied weakly, the color draining slowly but surely out of his face.

"Come on, Seth," Raven said. "We can get you to the tower, we can fix you up. It's… not that bad." She looked away momentarily as Seth wretched up more gore.

"No, Raven… it's done, now." Seth said shakily.

"What do you mean?" Raven replied.

"I've come to realize that the only reason I'm alive, the only reason I'm on Earth, is to rid it of Natas Black… somehow… " Seth explained.

"Seth, come on," Robin was in tears himself.

Seth weakly threw Robin his pack of cigarettes, "Have… one on me."

Robin picked the bloodied pack up, crying softly. Raven stroked his face. "Come visit your home... for me sometimes, I'll be just… next door," he winked at Raven one last time and chuckled softly, his eyes focusing on the sky above.

He went into a subdued coughing fit. Seth groaned one last time, closing his eyes, his body limp. Cyborg, Robin and Starfire turned away as it began to rain. For the first time in her life, Raven cried, the sheer magnitude of her motion finishing the destructive job of the buildings Natas had begun. And, unknown to all but her, a small notebook fell out of Seth's pocket. Raven picked it up and concealed it, still sobbing as the others simply held each other in the downpour. In the mess of the storm above and its falling mist, somewhere, be it an authority or the city simply running out of power, the sirens and screams stopped.


	15. Epilogue

**Author's Note:** It's been so much fun rewriting this. You readers are the best and I greatly thank you for the support. I hope this version and work is a good nod to the original and enhances some of the original concepts. Thank you again for your patience and time. In a couple days, I'll have the trivia chapter up. Until then, Born Of Darkness is officially complete.

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><p><span><strong>Epilogue<strong>

Seth didn't know how, but he'd ended up in his head again while dying there on the concrete. For whatever reason, he was nude and on some grassy hill. Back in reality, he assumed he'd been dying and this was some sort of DMT induced trip, a sort of moment to take a look at his life and tell his experiences "thank you". That, or it lasted eternally, this moment between life and death. He glanced around, watching as the sun and moon shared the same space in the sky. "Strange," he folded his legs, letting the breeze roll over him.

Next to him, Raven lay nude and enjoying the sunlight. "It's always fascinated me how they fought for so many eons and now, here, they share the same space."

"You're looking beautiful again," Seth crawled next to her, fingers playing with her hair.

She smiled, "What did you want to do today?"

Seth shrugged, yawning. "I say we go to sleep. Sleep-in. It's been a long day."

"How long should we sleep in?" Raven turned on her side, rear, hips and back catching the rays of celestial light.

"I don't know," Seth curled up next to her, spooning and kissing her neck, "maybe we should just see how long we can sleep in."

"It could be a long, long time Obsidian," she closed her eyes.

"I think I'm okay with that," Seth finished.

Another breeze kissed the two of them as they drifted deeper into sleep, Seth forgetting everything moments before. His grip remained strong even in the warm, welcoming embrace of sleep.

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><p><em>Breeze still carries the sound. Maybe I'll disappear...<em>

_Tracks will fade in the snow - you won't find me here._

_Ice is starting to form, ending what had begun._

_I am locked in my head, with what I've done._

_I know you tried to rescue me, didn't let anyone get in..._

_Left with a trace of all that was and all that could have been._

_In my nothing,_

_You meant everything,_

_Everything to me_


	16. Trivia

**Trivia**

Natas spelled backwards is Satan. The name was suggested by Obsidian Thirteen's stepfather before he passed.

The original version of Born Of Darkness was written in 2004, which amounted to about 14,000 words. Obsidian Thirteen rewrote it in 2005, that version being the final for nearly 9 years (it topped at 18,000 words).

The new version of Born Of Darkness is over twice as long as the 2005 counterpart, finishing up at 38,000 words with a new epilogue.

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><p><strong>Scenes added and altered include (amount to 18,000 words):<strong>

_Extended introduction to Seth, extended introduction of the city and extended introduction of Natas._

_All scenes of dialogue were extended._

_The Warehouse Rave chapter was greatly extended._

_Mature scenes involving characters were added._

_The new epilogue._

_Natas is referred to as The Shadow Man, The Thing From The Shadows, The Creature From Beyond, The Thing From Below and more by pedestrians, Seth and the Titans._

_More violence in the city as Natas gains control._

_Slight changes include Robin being less arrogant and aggressive toward Seth in the end and Seth doing the same toward Robin._

_Seth smokes more, then decides quitting._

_Other than the dialogue in the chapter involving Seth explaining his history, Natas and more, every sentence was tweaked by breaking down the chapters into parts and rewriting._

_A scene involving Raven harnessing energy from Seth in a containment she created using sex._

_The concept of Natas influencing people was expanded upon._

_A scene involving a vision with Seth, Natas and a homeless man._

_Around 500 words of narrative and dialogue were removed in which Seth comes across as too aggressive, full of himself and arrogant._

_The original had Seth uncaring of anything by the end, except for Raven. The new version implies Seth, after having his energy harnessed and his destiny approaching, is becoming peaceful and less tormented._

_Various added scenes and pieces involving inner thoughts, the city and things happening at the tower._

_A scene in the elevator featuring dialogue about a scorpion and fox (this was inspired by a conversation Obsidian Thirteen and Aphotica had in real life)._

_Added dialogue and motives for Natas Black, including more tormenting of Seth and the Teen Titans._

* * *

><p>Each of the chapters begins with a piece of lyrics from a song, except for the Epilogue which features most of the lyrics from "And All That Could Have Been" by Nine Inch Nails at the end.<p>

The epilogue references another fan fiction, The Doctorate written for Star Fox.

It took 1 ½ years to finish the final version of Born Of Darkness.

The last four chapters were written in two weeks, the last two and the epilogue written in six hours.

The cat Myrlan, which has a cameo in one scene involving Seth, is a reference and homage to a real black cat Obsidian Thirteen had as a pet named Myrlan.

References include the film Fight Club, elements of Clive Barker (The Hellbound Heart, Weaveworld), elements of music (Tool, Nine Inch Nails), Jacob's Ladder, Requiem For A Dream, Videodrome, A Clockwork Orange and The Lost Boys. Some dialogue uses direct inspiration from A Clockwork Orange (horror-show).

The Warehouse Rave scene is an homage to one of the first episodes of Teen Titans.

There is a brief cameo by three teens smoking illegal drugs in a Mustang. This is a direct mention of two friends Obsidian Thirteen and Aphotica had.

Seth quitting smoking (poorly) is a reference to a deleted scene from Fight Club.

H. P. Lovecraft is gently referenced several times.

Aphotica uses fan fiction as a means of practicing his craft for original fiction.

Born Of Darkness is part of a complete remastering of all old works, both from Aphotica and Obsidian Thirteen.

There was originally one prequel and three sequels to Born Of Darkness: Born Of Darkness 0, Born Of Darkness 1.5, Born Of Darkness 2: The Redemption Chronicles and Born Of Darkness III: The Apocalypse Chronicles. At least one of them still may happen.

"Take Out The Gunman" lyrics were used twice in the fifth and thirteenth chapter.

Seth references the A Perfect Circle song "By And Down" during his scorpion monologue.

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><p><strong>The songs lyrics used, by chapter:<strong>

1. "Somewhat Damaged" - Nine Inch Nails

2. "Nuclear" - Mike Oldfield

3. "The Beginning Of The End" - Nine Inch Nails

4. "The Devil In I" - Slipknot

5. "Take Out The Gunman" Chevelle

6. "Room Of Angel" - Akira Yamaoka

7. "Blackbird" - Alter Bridge

8. "Sin" - Nine Inch Nails

9. "Cry Little Sister" - G Tom Mac

10. "Song To The Siren" - This Mortal Coil

11. "Came Back Haunted" - Nine Inch Nails

12. "Right Where It Belongs" - Nine Inch Nails

13. "Take Out The Gunman" - Chevelle

14. "While I'm Still Here" - Nine Inch Nails

15. "And All That Could Have Been" - Nine Inch Nails

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><p>The journal Raven finds in the final chapter is a crucial component of Born Of Darkness II.<p>

The epilogue is a reference to the drug DMT, which is produced during dreaming, birth and death. Clive Barker references it in his novel "The Great And Secret Show", elements of Barker's works present in parts of Born Of Darkness.


End file.
